Saudi Arabia has expressed interest in buying a multibillion-dollar stake in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the world’s richest cricket league, a leading News agency reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s advisers have spoken to Indian government officials about moving the IPL into a holding company valued at as much as $30 billion, the report said.
The talks were held when the crown prince visited India in September, the report said, adding that the kingdom proposed investing as much as $5 billion into the league and help lead an expansion into other countries.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the custodian of the IPL, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. IPL is one of the richest leagues in the world and has been attracting top players and coaches to India since its inaugural edition in 2008.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a men’s Twenty20 (T20) cricket league that is annually held in India and contested by ten city-based franchise teams. The BCCI founded the league in 2007. The competition is usually held in summer between March and May every year. It has an exclusive window in the ICC Future Tours Programme due to fewer international cricket tours happening during IPL seasons worldwide.
The IPL is the most popular cricket league in the world; in 2014, it was ranked sixth by average attendance among all sports leagues. In 2010, the IPL became the first sporting event to be broadcast live on YouTube. Other Indian sports leagues have been established based on the success of the IPL. The brand value of the league in 2022 was ₹90,038 crore (US$11 billion). According to BCCI, the 2015 IPL season contributed ₹1,150 crore (US$140 million) to the GDP of the economy of India. In December 2022, IPL became a decacorn valued at US$10.9 billion, registering a 75% growth in dollar terms since 2020 when it was valued at $6.2 billion, according to a report by consulting firm D and P Advisory. Its 2023 final was the most streamed live event on the internet with 3.2 Cr or 32 million viewers.
(With inputs from agencies)
