IPL abroad could hurt BCCI
Once shifted out, league boils down to a TV product that has to follow terms set by other boards
KOLKATA: The idea of IPL moving abroad next year could be a more strenuous affair for the BCCI.
Though the IPL was shifted abroad twice due to the general elections --- South Africa for the entire duration in 2009 and for two weeks in the UAE in 2014 --another such effort could leave the BCCI shortchanged. And as money matters, the ramifications can’t be overlooked.
Once shifted out, the IPL boils down to just a television product that has to live by conditions set by other boards, compromise on gate receipts and dipping interests from sponsors who want their brands to adorn stadiums where locals can identify with them.
A case in point was the 2014 IPL. Three stadiums in UAE were shared by eight teams in blistering heat and in front of not-so-encouraging turnouts. The first casualty was the concept of home and away matches, the backbone of any competitive league. SUBSIDIES Then the BCCI had to accept the franchises’ requests of subsidising the hosting of matches. The norm is franchises pay for everything from stadium rent to medical and security expenses along with the lodging and travelling of teams between cities in India. For the UAE leg, the BCCI had to agree to share the expenditure. Franchises have to shell out around R30 lakh per match, but in 2014, the BCCI paid R35 lakh per day to the UAE authorities.
The net result reflected on the annual report of 201415. According to it, the gross receipts in the 2014 IPL dropped to ` 1,000 crore in comparison to ` 1,194 crore the previous year. The surplus dropped from ` 334.86 crore in 2013 to ` 126.17 crore in 2014.
OTHER ISSUES
These weren’t the only hits the BCCI had to take. The Champions League T20 was a huge flop but still it fetched the BCCI R743 crore through television rights in 2014. The tournament is scrapped now.
Also, with BCCI president Shashank Manohar reportedly eager to undo the ICC’s ‘Big Three’ revenue sharing model where India, England and Australia enjoyed a bigger share of the ICC’s revenue pie, things can be tighter. Even the interest earned from banks plummeted from ` 121 crore to ` 86 crore in 2014-15.
Expenses, of course, will escalate. For 2015-16, the BCCI had budgeted ` 928 crore on cricket operations — more than a 90% jump from ` 516 crore the previous year — with subsidies to state associations and personal gratis to retired players jacked up.
Everything indicates that the BCCI’s expenditure might make serious dent if income doesn’t pick up. In such a scenario, shifting the IPL abroad could only make the BCCI sweat more. The BCCI still had a general fund of over ` 2,000 crore after the end of 2014-15. Its current financial might is perhaps stoking the desire to relocate the IPL in the face of increasing litigations in different states now. But it cannot be a long-term solution.
The only way out for the BCCI is to perhaps liaise better with the state governments. Relocating the IPL for a reason other than the general elections could make the BCCI’s situation look as bad as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) staging its first T20 league in the UAE for security reasons. That is not the image BCCI would want to live with.