Podcast: Big Money Coming in From IPL, But BCCI Needs To Play Balancing Act

BCCI has over Rs 48,000 crore coming in from the IPL's broadcast rights.

BCCI has over Rs 48,000 crores coming in from the IPL's broadcast rights.

 (Photo: The Quint)

Each IPL match played over the next five years will earn the BCCI Rs 118 crore from its media rights. While Star India picked up the TV rights of the league in the recently concluded IPL media rights auction for Rs 23,575 crore or Rs 57.5 crore a game, Viacom18 bagged the digital rights for Rs 23,758 crore, or Rs 57.94 crore a match.

And while this now makes the IPL the second highest-earning sports league, in terms of per match revenue, this also means there is more at stake every summer for the BCCI.

With board Secretary Jay Shah announcing that the league will have a two and a half month window from the next ICC FTP, and already half the Indian players ruled out, or resting, from the ongoing home T20 series against South Africa – the question that now arises is where this leaves India's international bilateral commitments?

With two new teams, IPL 2022 had 74 matches and stretched a whole two months and from 2027, the board has committed to as many as 94 matches a season as a package of 410 matches was sold in the media rights auction, for the next five years.

Cricket expert Amrit Mathur joins me on this podcast as we talk about what this money could mean for Indian cricket, but also India's international cricket. Will the BCCI be in a position to prioritise players' health and fitness and have them rest for any part of a three-month IPL, if need be? Will the conversations be harder now that there are two big broadcasters in the picture?