A bigger per-match value than the IPL deal

Star India bought the rights to televise Indian cricket from 2018-2023 for $944 million. That works out to approximately $189 million a year, a 51.2% jump from the $125 million a year they paid for the same rights from 2012-18. The Indian Premier League still fetches a much higher per-year value, $508 million, but the IPL has more games than the Indian cricket team in a year. So, Star paid $2.55 billion for at least 300 IPL games, but for Indian cricket, they have paid nearly a billion dollars for 102 games.

Star's winning bid was an increase of 59% from the previous cycle of Indian cricket rights ESPNcricinfo Ltd

BCCI earnings from TV deals highest among boards

The new deal means the BCCI will now earn a combined $697 million per year for IPL and Indian cricket rights. This is much bigger than the $287 million a year the ECB will earn for the rights to broadcast cricket, including domestic tournaments and leagues, in the UK. The ECB also earns some money from broadcasters in other countries, such as Sony Pictures Networks in India, but even with those included the amount will not match what the BCCI gets.

The per-year values of cricket's biggest TV deals ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Indian cricket competing with big global sporting brands

The $9.26 million Star will pay to broadcast each India match at home is not much less than the amount paid to broadcast one match in the English Premier League. While the NFL still has a much higher per-game value, the other two big American leagues, the NBA and MLB, now actually cost less to broadcast a game than Indian cricket.

The per-game value of sports' biggest broadcast deals ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A near-75% increase in eight years

The value of Indian cricket has risen by 73.39% since Nimbus paid $436 million for four years in 2010. Go back to 1999, and Doordarshan paid just $54 million for the rights to broadcast Indian cricket for five years. Now that amount would fetch you the rights for about six matches.

How much broadcasters have paid to televise Indian cricket over the years ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Star bets big on cricket

With this deal, Star has now spent more than $5 billion on cricket rights since 2012. It's significant that the same company has valued the IPL as more lucrative than ICC events and sees India games as right up there with World Cup games in terms of value.