While speaking at India Leadership Council Event, Sourav Ganguly, the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, remarked that the Indian Premier League is run by fans, which generates more revenue than the English Premier League, one of the prestigious football competitions in the world.
The IPL has progressively grown leaps and bounds over the years, ever since its inception back in 2008. The most recent edition, which concluded only two weeks back, saw two new franchises – Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants – being added, making it a 10-team tournament, as was the case back in the 2011 edition.
The Hardik Pandya-led side emerged victorious in the final against the Rajasthan Royals in front of a staggering 1,04,859 capacity crowd – the largest ever attendance for a white-ball cricket game – at the Narendra Modi International Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 29.
That the competition has already seen record bids during the E-auction for its Media Rights for the 2023-27 cycle only speaks more of its immense popularity. Television rights were sold for a whopping INR 57.5 crore, while the highest bid for digital rights stood at INR 50 crore per game.
“I’ve seen the game evolve, where players like me earned a few hundreds and now have the potential of earning crores. This game is run by the fans, by the people of this country, and by the BCCI, which was formed by cricket fans. This sport is strong and will continue to evolve.
“The IPL generates more revenue than the English Premier League. It makes me feel happy and proud that the sport I love has evolved to become so strong.”
the former India captain told Deepak Lamba, CEO, Worldwide Media, President, Times Strategic Solutions Limited.
