The Indian Premier League suspension has brought losses to the richest cricket board and the richest cricket league in the world. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Treasurer Arun Kumar Dhumal confirmed that the board is looking down the barrel at a revenue loss of approximately Rs 2000 crore, which if converted, turns out to be $270 million.
"The ballpark figure for revenue loss would be to the tune of 2000 crore rupees (20 billion)," Dhumal told Reuters. "Given all our contractual obligations, we are yet to find out what would be the actual figure," the Treasurer added.
It is not just the loss of money that is pinching BCCI, but it is rather the loss of Brand Value and a certain loss of face that the board is more worried about. Duff & Phelps, a financial consultancy firm said that in the last year, the IPL's brand value shrunk by 3.6% to $6.19 billion, mostly due to the pandemic.
This year, the number could go high as the cricket governing board of the country, which is religiously mad about the sports is facing the ire of the people for conducting the league in the times when thousands of people are dying and more than four lakhs are testing positive because of Covid-19.
More importantly, STAR Sports, which bagged the IPL's television and digital rights for 2018-2022 for a whopping 163.48 billion rupees and which would shell out about 545 million rupees per game in a 60-match season, would not be paying in full to the board as well. Many sponsors are not keen on fulfilling their 100% financial commitment either as only 29 of the proposed 60 matches have been completed.