The current media rights deal has given the Indian Cricket Board a chance to regain financial power inside the ICC after suffering many setbacks.
The market has found “The Big One,” which is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). This means that the Big Three are no longer important. After the current round of the media rights sale (from 2024 to 2027), the gap between what India and the rest of the world give to the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) coffers will widen even more.
While India’s networks paid $3 billion for a four-year deal that was finalized last August, it is believed that the other key regions only paid about $500 million.
Based on these numbers, the BCCI has already asked the governing body for a proportional increase in its share of income. Officials who are in the know say that 37% of the final value was talked about at the ICC quarterly meeting last month. That would mean that the BCCI would get around $1.3 billion (about 10,000 crore), which is a lot more than the 22% (US$405 million over eight years) that they get now.
Several ICC member boards confirmed that the BCCI’s influence will grow, which will be reflected in their increased share of the income. Officials from the BCCI said that they want an even bigger share than what is being talked about. The ICC is expected to make a decision at its next meeting in June.
If the BCCI goes as planned, it will be a big win for the people in charge right now. Board secretary Jay Shah is also in charge of the ICC’s Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee.
Back in 2014, the Indian, English (ECB), and Australian cricket boards came up with a revenue-sharing plan that would have given BCCI a 31% share. This plan became known as the “Big three takeover.” Even though the plan was shot down because the ICC and BCCI switched places, and India was for the first time outvoted, the Indian board is now set to get even more.
Since there isn’t going to be any competition soon, the ICC has extended its contracts with Sky and SuperSport for the UK and South African markets, making a long-term, eight-year deal from 2024 to 2031. The Sky deal is worth more than US$300 million, and the ECB will get the second largest share, just like they do now. The other ten Test-playing countries and the Associates will get the rest of the money.
Many member boards will come out ahead thanks to the larger pool of ICC revenue made possible by the Indian market. This is in contrast to the situation in the past, when they would have made less money after selling their domestic rights.
While ICC boardroom tensions have subsided, another proposal argued that the team’s performance on the field should be taken into account with the media rights market share.
The proposal suggested looking back fifteen years at how well teams had done in ICC competitions. One board member voiced concern that including performance from more than the most recent five years would be unfair to those who have recently raised the bar.
It is well known that the ICC’s negotiations with the Australian media market have been fruitless. Knowledgeable ICC officials have stated that agreements with the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and MENA have not yet been finalized.
Diwali window for WPL
After the first season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) went well, the BCCI plans to make it a home-and-away event.
“Starting next year, we plan to take it to more places, both at home and on the road,” said BCCI secretary Shah. “We are also considering Diwali instead of March. Women’s cricket now has a loyal fan group, and the number of fans will continue to grow.
The Indian board got the WPL a record amount of money for media rights (951 crores for five years) and fees for buying teams (4669.99 crore for five teams).
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