RCB may or may not win the IPL tonight on their 18th attempt. Whatever the outcome, the biggest winner will always be the BCCI, a behemoth that keeps getting bigger thanks to the IPL.
The BCCI quietly published its FY24 annual report, giving us a glimpse into its extraordinary growth and scale.
For context, the year before the IPL began, the board was turning over ₹650 crore a year and made a ₹230 crore surplus. It was already influential, but what it has become today borders on unmatched in the world of sport.
Last fiscal, the first full season of the new IPL media cycle, it made almost a billion dollars in surplus (₹8,037 crore , up 35x from FY07) on revenues of ₹9,741 crore (up 15x). Profit margins that would make tech companies jealous
And it’s sitting on a mammoth ₹20,700 crore cash pile, adding ₹4,200 crore in just a year.
The 2023 IPL season generated ₹11,802 crore in revenue with a massive ₹5,761 crore surplus transferred after expenses. Ticket sales contributed just ₹44 crore (0.4% of revenue) - IPL is clearly a broadcasting product first, stadium experience second.
It works because BCCI has created a model where everyone wins. No franchisees lose.
BCCI’s position is a reminder to the world that the centre of gravity in cricket, financially & culturally, is no longer shared. It is Indian. All of this from a sport played seriously by fewer than 15 nations.
Cricket in India, economically dominated by the IPL, is a top-tier entertainment business that just happens to stage cricket matches.