NEW DELHI: The Indian Premier League ( IPL ), which started as a sideshow by the Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI ) in 2008, is now set to account for nearly 95 percent of the board’s surplus.

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BCCI’s projections of its income and spending in the coming financial year suggest that the IPL will earn a surplus of Rs 2,017 crore, while the rest of the board’s operations - international fixtures as well as domestic - will contribute barely Rs 125 crore to its surplus.

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What these projections mean is that BCCI will make 16 times more profit during the 45-day IPL window than it is likely to in the remaining 320 days of the year. This net surplus will accrue after BCCI’s expenditure on the game’s infrastructure and other heads, amounting to approximately Rs 1,272 crore against an income of Rs 3,413 crore.

In the current year, IPL is estimated to contribute 60 percent of BCCI’s overall surplus of a little under Rs 670 crore. Now, thanks to the five-year mega media rights deal worth Rs 16,347 crore with Star India , IPL is going to bring in a surplus of Rs 2017 crore as compared to Rs 400 crore in the last financial year. Keeping the surplus generated from the IPL aside, BCCI is likely to end up generating a surplus of Rs 125 crore out of its international calendar and domestic matches.

Thus, the net surplus of the board is projected to see a threefold increase from Rs 665 crore to 2,142 crore. The allocation ratio (IPL:BCCI) has changed to 80:20 from 52:48 due to change in revenue shares. This means BCCI’s establishment and administration expenses are likely to come down to Rs 19 crore from Rs 51crore.

Based on the Future Tours Programme, the board will see a marginal drop of Rs 5 crore in the surplus from the men’s team’s international tours, leading to a substantial drop of Rs 78 crore in income from media rights alone.

Interestingly, the projections indicate that the Indian team may not play any Test matches in New Zealand when they tour early next year after a gap of five years. India will play 12 Tests in the next financial year with only two Tests at home - against West Indies.

Income from media rights per international fixture - Tests, ODIs or T20Is - is billed at Rs 43.20 crore. India will play 10 international matches each in Australia and New Zealand in the coming financial year. They are slated to play four Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is in Australia, before flying out to New Zealand for five ODIs and five T20Is. The media rights agreement with Star is due for renewal in April 2018.

“There is a lot of risk of losing money in a five-day game starting at 3 am India time (in New Zealand). Anyway, it will be a World Cup year by the time India travel to New Zealand. India will be playing just white-ball cricket after the Tests in Australia get over till the World Cup in England arrives.

India will host Australia after they come back from New Zealand and will travel to Zimbabwe for three T20Is before the 2019 IPL,” a senior BCCI official in the know of things told TOI.

India played just two Tests and five One-Day Internationals last time when they visited New Zealand in 2014.

Supervised by the Supreme Court-appointed committee of administrators (CoA), the board had announced in December that it is keen on reducing the number of playing days without cutting down on the number of matches. Playing just the shorter formats in New Zealand could be a step in that direction.

BCCI CEO Rahul Johri had recently claimed that there would be ‘virtually no or very little’ international cricket during the IPL in the FTP from 2019. “The other boards understand the opportunity of the IPL. They all want their players to be available. In the FTP from 2019, there's virtually no or very little international cricket during that period in the calendar. Our endeavour is to overcome even that little international cricket. That is testimony to the strength of the IPL,” Johri had told TOI last month.

India A, junior, women and NCA programmes to be strengthened

The board is likely to double its expenditure budget on international tours for India A, junior and women. The board has plans to set aside Rs 48.5 crore for these tours with the women’s tours seeing an increase of Rs 9 crore.

BCCI also plans to increase camps and activities at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) by allocating Rs 50 crore as compared to Rs 26 crore last year. There is an increase of Rs 14 crore for conducting domestic matches as the BCCI plans to increase the number of domestic matches too. This could be because of the board’s endeavour to strengthen women’s and junior cricket.



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