BCCI expecting $12 million ‘surplus’ from ICC T20 World Cup

The BCCI is the richest cricket body in the world.
The BCCI is the richest cricket body in the world.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, designated host for the upcoming 2021 T20 World Cup, is expecting a profit of $ 12 million from the multi-national event. The T20 World Cup will be staged in Oman and the UAE from October 17. However, BCCI remains the host.

The BCCI has reportedly shared detailed financial projections about the World Cup with the Apex Council members.

The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) will be paid $7 million for hosting 39 games in the UAE while Oman Cricket (OC) will receive a hosting fee of $400,000 for hosting six first round games of the showpiece event.

According to a BCCI estimate, about which it informed its Apex Council members recently, the Indian board will earn around $12 million from the showpiece event.

In a detailed email to the Apex Council members recently, the Indian board had said that of the USD 7 million fee to the ECB, USD 1.5 million is for hosting, USD 5.5 million is the cost for operation and USD 400,000 is the operational cost for the six games in Muscat.

A cricket website, claiming to be in possession of the BCCI email has published the following text from the mail.

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“The BCCI is hosting a major part of this event in UAE, i.e in Dubai, Abu Dhabi & Sharjah. The BCCI is working with the ECB on similar lines. Some of the key pointer’s w.r.t BCCI’s arrangement with ECB is as follows:

  1. BCCI is paying ECB a fixed fee of USD 1.5 million (from our host fee of USD 13.5 Million) and operational costs of USD 5.5 million which will be covered by ICC. Total fee payable is USD 7 millon.
  2. All operational deliverables w.r.t ICC’s requirements will be provided by the ECB
  3. BCCI has transferred its ticketing rights to the ECB and all revenues generated out of sale of match tickets will be retained by the ECB
  4. A Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for delivery of this event has been constituted which mainly include staff from BCCI and a few staff from ECB.”

The mail reportedly further states “The BCCI is hosting 6 matches in Muscat. Some of the key pointer’s w.r.t BCCI’s arrangement with ECB is as follows:

  1. BCCI is paying OC a fixed fee of USD 400,000.
  2. All operational deliverables w.r.t ICC’s requirements will be provided by the OC
  3. BCCI has transferred its ticketing rights to the OC and all revenues generated out of sale of match tickets will be retained by the OC.
  4. The BCCI has deployed a team from its LOC in Muscat to oversee the preparation for the event.”

“The BCCI discussed the hosting issues with the ICC and had several rounds of deliberations internally. After much thought, it was decided that the safety of players and other stakeholders is of paramount importance and keeping that in mind, it was best to shift the event to the United Arab Emirates and Oman,” board’s secretary Jay Shah wrote in the email.

Earlier, the showpiece event was slated to be held in India but was later shifted to the UAE due to the pandemic.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had said that considering the uncertainty due to the COVID-19 situation in the country, it was tough for them to take the decision of not holding it in India.

The BCCI will remain the hosts of the event, which will now be held across four venues – Dubai International Stadium, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the Sharjah Stadium, and the Oman Cricket Academy Ground.

“The BCCI is looking forward to hosting the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 tournament in UAE and Oman,” Ganguly had said.

“We would have been happier hosting it in India but considering the uncertainty due to the Covid 19 situation and the importance of a world championship, the BCCI will now continue to host this tournament in UAE and Oman. The BCCI is looking forward to creating a spectacle,” he had added.

The upcoming edition will be the first Men’s T20 World Cup played since 2016, when West Indies beat England in the final in India.

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