BCCI’s IPL 2023 Windfall: Surplus Earnings Skyrocket Over ₹5000 Crore, 116% Surge from Last Year’s IPL

The world’s richest and most powerful cricket body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), revealed its recent wealth prowess which it gained from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. BCCI generated a surplus of Rs 5120 crore from IPL 2023, a 116% jump from the previous year’s Rs 2367 crore, revealed the annual report released by the board.

The massive growth in just a year is attributed to the media rights and sponsor deals. The income from media rights alone soared 131% from 3,780 crore in IPL 2022 to 8,744 crore in IPL 2023, the biggest factor in the humongous surplus. The total revenue from the IPL 2023 surged to 11,769 crores, a 78% year-on-year comparison, while expenditure also rose 66% to 6,648 crores.

The new IPL media rights, which Disney Star and Viacom18-owned JioCinema acquired separately for Television and OTT for the 2023-27 cycle, kicked in from the IPL 2023. The media rights deal amounted to a staggering 48,390 crore, with Disney Star securing IPL TV rights for 23,575 crore, while JioCinema obtained digital rights with a 23,758 crore bid. Previously, Disney Star was the sole media rights holder which it received after signing a five-year deal for 16,347 crore for the 2018-22 cycle. 

Apart from that, BCCI also earned 2,500 crore from Tata Sons for IPL title rights for a five-year cycle. MyCircle11, RuPay, AngelOne, and Ceat also contributed another 1,485 crore for the associate sponsorships of the IPL. The total sponsorship revenue saw a 2% jump to 847 crore from 828 crore previously. The earnings from the franchise fees also increased 22% to 2,117 crore from 1,730 crore. 

BCCI also earned a surplus of 377 crores from the debut season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in 2023 and 636 crores in total from media rights, franchise fees, and sponsorships.

IPL 2025: BCCI is Tasked Big With A Build-Up for Another Spectacular Show

The build-up for the next season of the IPL in 2025 is already in buzz, largely because of the highly anticipated mega auction which is to take place soon. According to the reports, BCCI is likely to announce the retention rules by the end of August. For now, there are only speculations on what formula would be decided on player retention before the mega auction. 

In the meeting held between IPL stakeholders last month on July 31st, many franchises including Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI), were not in support of the mega auction and asked BCCI to allow the maximum number of retentions. Moreover, all franchises anonymously agreed to take strict action against those players who make themselves unavailable just before the beginning of the season for personal reasons. 

To remind the readers, the BCCI conducts a mega auction every 3 years and a large number of players go under the hammer. The last such mega auction was held in 2022 where ten franchises bought 204 players for 551 crore combined.