The Indian Premier League is taking over global cricket
India’s lucrative domestic tournament is strangling international contests
THE GROWTH of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been spectacular. Only 15 years after its launch, India’s biggest domestic cricket contest, which this year began its annual rendition on March 31st, has become by one measure the world’s second-most lucrative sports league after America’s National Football League (nfl). The sale of five-year media rights to the IPL, which uses the fast-paced Twenty20 (T20) cricket format, raised $6.2bn last year for its organiser, the Board of Control for Cricket in India. This commercial success has confirmed India as by far the dominant economic power in cricket. But the owners of the IPL’s team franchises, who include some of India’s richest men and biggest companies, want more.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Hit for six”
From the April 8th 2023 edition
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