Play more matches with India, says BCCI as it extends helping hand to other cricket bodies amid COVID-19 crisis

Known to be the richest cricketing body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has come up with a plan to help countries facing losses amid the coronavirus outbreak.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, BCCI officials who do not wish to be named said that the board has carried out an exercise to evaluate how much income each cricketing nation has lost.

They added that BCCI secretary Jay Shah promised solutions to Future Tours Programme (FTP) during the ICC meeting that was held this week. It means that India has said they will play more bilateral matches against smaller teams once the pandemic ends. This move will help generate revenue for other cricket boards.

Later this year, the new FTP for the years 2023-2031 will be finalised; and as known, the ICC will continue to depend on the BCCI for revenue.

Over the next 12 months, the Men in Blue are scheduled to tour four countries. It will play six limited-overs matches in Sri Lanka, four Test matches in Australia, three limited-overs matches in Zimbabwe, and three T20Is in South Africa. 

These bilateral tours are said to take precedence overall, including the T20 World Cup which is scheduled to be held in Australia in October, once international cricket resumes, the BCCI officials added.

“India will look to honour each of those commitments, as soon as we can,” one of them said.

However, the ICC has not yet taken a decision about the T20 World Cup and is in talks with the Australian government. The BCCI official has said that the chances of the event going ahead are slim.

“Is the ICC serious when it expects eight venues to be available to them for a World Cup in October? Will all governments permit outbound travel in a sixteen-nation world event?” he asked. “Cricket Australia is thinking of holding multiple Test matches in a single venue for India’s tour in December. How will they arrange eight venues for a World Cup ?”

As for the BCCI, the T20 World Cup is not a priority, and nor is the Asia Cup. 

The Indian cricket board is estimated to annually earn Rs 2500 crore from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and around Rs 950 crores from bilateral cricket in 2020-21. It earns Rs 380 crores ($405million for 8 years) yearly from its share of ICC revenue, Hindustan Times reported.

In the current eight-year FTP cycle, the England Cricket Board (ECB) makes $139 million from the ICC, while Cricket Australia, Cricket South Africa, Pakistan Cricket Board, New Zealand Cricket, Sri Lanka Cricket, Cricket West Indies and Bangladesh Cricket Board make $128 million each, while Zimbabwe gets $94 million.

Each board, including BCCI, will be earning around Rs 60-90 crore from the T20 World Cup. The BCCI, on the other hand, will make Rs 60 crores for just one home match from its deal with the broadcaster.

“While we know that India can’t possibly tour every other country in a short span of time, it is possible to add matches to the existing home calendar and help other member boards out by covering current losses,” the BCCI official said.

“A part of the proceeds from extra matches held in India may be given to the visiting team.” When other countries host India, they usually make much more money from media and other rights than when they host other teams. “A Part of the proceeds from extra matches held in India may be given to the visiting team,” he said.

Other cricket boards also make more money when they host India than they usually make while hosting other teams. 

Only India, England, and New Zealand’s cricket boards aren’t making losses. Cricket Australia has already taken a $20 million hit and they have furloughed its staff. They are even negotiating a pay cut for players. To make up for the losses, CA now wants India to play an extra Test in the December series.

As for Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), they had offered to co-host the IPL, to benefit from staging fees. 

The SLC as well as Cricket West Indies are out to sell their media rights but have not found any takers. 

“It’s known market practice that the valuation of most media rights deal depends on a certain number of matches with India,” a cricket administrator who did not want to be identified told Hindustan Times.

When it comes to IPL, if the cash-rich event takes place, it will benefit other cricket boards as well. 

Each board receives 20% of the earnings of its players as a release fee. In the 13th season of the IPL, overseas players are slated to make a total of around R240 crore, which given the cricket board around Rs 48 crore.