Saudi Arabia has expressed interest in buying a multibillion-dollar stake in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the world’s richest cricket league, according to a Bloomberg News report, citing people familiar with the matter.
Saudi Arabia reportedly proposed investing as much as $5 billion into the league and help lead an expansion into other countries. As per earlier reports, the IPL ecosystem value has risen from INR 87,000 crore to INR 92,500 crore, marking an increase of around 6.3%, as per a report by D&P India Advisory Services.
The kingdom proposed investing as much as $5 billion and help lead an expansion into other countries, the report added. People in the know told the news site that the Indian government and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are likely to take a call after next year’s elections.
IPL’s popularity is evident as bidders last year pumped in $6.2 billion for the right to telecast the tournaments, which comes to $15.1 million per match.
According to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, theIPL telecast on the Star Sports Network attracted a staggering 505 million viewers with an impressive watch time of 427.1 billion minutes. On the digital front, Jio Cinema reported that 449 million viewers tuned into its platform, with over 126 million viewers choosing connected TV options to savour the IPL auction.
IPL started in India in 2008. Since then IPL has become the favorite league of world class players and coaches. The best international players and coaches came to India to play in the IPL. The sport has grown into the second largest sports league in the world in a short period of time. Foreign countries have been trying to acquire the IPL since the revenue started increasing. But the BCCI and the central government do not intend to give the IPL to anyone at the moment.
