The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has claimed that the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) brand is worth a massive $4.5 billion (approx. Rs 27,000 crore).
The cricket board, in its annual report for 2015-16, said that this staggering figure was given by valuation appraisal firm Duff & Phelps.
“According to the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India, the total TV viewership of IPL 2016 calculated by impressions stood at 102 crores. A report by management consultancy firm KPMG puts the total impact of IPL 2015 on the Indian economy at Rs 1,150 crore, more than 0.6 per cent of the country's GDP,” the report states.
Recently, BCCI issued an open tendor for the broadcasting rights of the league for the next ten years and leading sports broadcasters like Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI) and Star Sports are already battling for it. The broadcasters are likely to spend more than $4 billion (approx. Rs 26,700 crore) to own the rights.
“The IPL has been the fastest-growing league in the world, and it has also changed the landscape of domestic sport in the country. After the IPL was launched in 2008, many other sports have started such leagues. Numbers prove that the IPL has set a benchmark, and at the BCCI, we're extremely proud of this,” BCCI President Anurag Thakur said.
The IPL is reportedly growing by 20 per cent in revenue every year, and its title sponsors Vivo have paid Rs 100 crore to BCCI.
The board also claimed that IPL’s followers on Twitter grew by 300 per cent between 2014 and 2016 and that this would make it the fast growing sporting league on social media.
The figures reveal another surprising fact that at 300 per cent, the Kolkata Knight Riders is growing faster than Manchester United (204 per cent).
