According to recently released financial data, the Indian Cricket Board earned close to $300 million from the Indian Premier League last year.
Due in large part to the wildly successful Twenty20 event, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is one of the wealthiest regulatory bodies in world sport.
Since its establishment in 2008, the IPL has made its star players millionaires and made billions from broadcast rights, inspiring a plethora of imitation leagues in other cricket-loving nations.
Annual reports for the five years to 2021–22 were posted on the BCCI website on Thursday, and they revealed that as of April 2022, the board had accumulated a surplus of 320 billion rupees ($2.7 billion).
According to audited financial data, that year’s IPL had revenues of $771 million, $479 million in expenses, and a net profit of $292 million.
The BCCI previously refrained from releasing specific financial information. The board has not released comprehensive accounts to the public until Thursday.
In a June interview with Australian media, Neeraj Kumar, a former BCCI anti-corruption adviser who this year wrote a tell-all book about the board, criticized the opacity surrounding its finances.
“It’s a matter of great pity that we are so rich and so much money is distributed to our states and never accounted for,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Last year, the BCCI auctioned off the broadcast and internet streaming rights for the IPL tournaments from 2023 to 27 for a staggering $6.2 billion, with US juggernauts Disney and Viacom among the high bidders.
Nearly 2.5 times as much as its last five-year media rights contract, this amount.
The BCCI held the first-ever women’s T20 tournament this year, generating close to $700 million in franchise and broadcast rights.
