Cricket, in the truest sense, is not a global sport. While the number of member nations registered under the International Cricket Nation currently is in triple figures, there are less than 15 teams that are both adequately successful and have a reasonable audience in their country.
Yet, cricket is one of the biggest games regarding money moving hands. The simple reason behind this is its popularity in South Asia, where over one-fifth of the world’s population lives.
India, expectedly, is the biggest hub of the cricket economy. The British and the Aussies no longer dominate the game, and since the inception of the Indian Premier League, India has become cricket’s cash cow.
That has had some negative impact on the game, too, like other countries bowing to their requirements from time to time, recently seen in the Asia Cup, where their refusal to travel to Pakistan, the original host country, saw the tournament changed into a hybrid model.
The reason is simple: if there is no India, there is no income. This situation has often spurred conspiracy theories, but those usually appear baseless.
Now, as the World Cup, considered the sport’s greatest spectacle, has arrived in India, the financial side of the story is often taking centre stage, and some controversies, too.
How much do the teams earn?
First things first, how much will the champions earn? Despite an increment in India’s sponsorship rights prices, which currently sits at 358 crore Rupees for five years, the prize pool of the Men’s 2023 World Cup has remained the same as the previous version.
The total pot has been set at USD 10 million, with the winner grabbing USD 4 million, while the runners-up taking USD 2 million.
The two losing semi-finalists will take home USD 800,000, while teams eliminated from the group stage will receive 100,000 each. Each win brings USD 40,000 to a team.
The prize money not increasing from the event four years back has a simple reason – the format is losing popularity. While 50-over cricket was the go-to format in the first two decades of this century, in the last few years, T20 has taken over, and due to its shorter timeframe, it expectedly provides ICC and the hosts with a better cost-to-benefit ratio, leading to leading cricket boards now focusing more on the 20-over game.
The TV Hype and Advertising
Cricket, unlike other team sports, is a haven for broadcasters and advertisers. There are 100 guaranteed breaks during an ODI game, along with several more, meaning unlike football, you can advertise your product 100 times during a game.
Renowned Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle once said that ODI will not die out simply because of this single asset it has, a seemingly unlimited space for companies to promote themselves.
Companies go mad about advertising anything related to India simply because of the audience pool.
For example, Disney and Hotstar, the official broadcasters of the showcase event, are predicted to achieve a Rs 4,000 Crore profit from this World Cup alone. PhonePe, one of India’s digital payment solutions providers, will pay Hotstar Rs 150 crores to show their ads during the tournament.
What is even more astounding is the advertising rate per second, which, according to the Times of India, is Rs 3 lakhs per second, which is a 40% increase from the last event in England.
According to the same article, brands are expected to spend Rs 2000 crores (USD 240 million) on advertising during this tournament.
ICC, who sold the rights to the broadcasters, will likely generate USD 533.29 million from this World Cup.
All of this combined makes the World Cup a free-flowing cash pile, and among that, one specific part stays atop everything else: the India-Pakistan game.
The India-Pakistan ‘war’
For the last few Asia Cups, the format has been revised to ensure at least two games between India and Pakistan, and in the previous two T20 World Cups, they were both drawn into the same group. There is a reason this happens, and it is not subtle.
According to Hotstar, 3.5 crore people concurrently watched the India-Pakistan match on October 14, becoming the first-ever match to do so. In the Asia Cup earlier this year, the number hit 2.8 crores.
And thus, the attempt to make the event a spectacle. This World Cup did not have an opening ceremony. Still, for some reason, there was a ceremony ahead of the India-Pakistan game, with Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan, and Rajnikanth present. At the same time, Shankar Mahadevan, Arijit Singh, and Neha Kakkar performed.
The GDP Boom
The World Cup is not a trivial matter for a country, especially a country’s economy. It was reported that the 2015 World Cup in Australia was the biggest event since the 2000 Olympics, while the last edition in England generated a 350 million GBP boost impact on the United Kingdom’s economy. The 2015 edition also added 110 million Dollars to New Zealand’s economy, which was the co-host with Australia.
The financial impact of this World Cup on India’s economy is supposedly set to be even greater. According to a Bloomberg article published on the opening day of the World Cup, the economic impact of this tournament is assessed to be USD 2.4 billion.
Foreign and domestic tourists are expected to bring in six to eight and a half billion Rupees to the GDP, while spectator expenses are set to bring in three to five billion Rupees.
Statistics from software firm RateGain showed that hotel fares in hosting cities sometimes tripled or more. In contrast, hotel room prices, which are 4,000 Rupees in general, even hit 50,000 Rupees ahead of the India-Pakistan clash. The demand for international flights to India also increased by 125%.
An example of how India is focusing on boosting tourism income during the World Cup is the scheduling of their games. India will play nine league stage games in nine different venues to ensure that there are travelling fans and that they have at least one sold-out game in each venue, which is the regular case during India games.
Another example is the games at Dharamsala. The outfield at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium has been called poor by England skipper Jos Buttler, and viewers have seen that there are patches in the outfield without grass and sand siphoning off the pace bowlers’ feet when they are running in. Fielding has been difficult, and players have avoided serious injuries.
The 50-over format is losing popularity every day, and so is international cricket. Across the globe, franchise leagues have started to reign supreme, and players have begun quitting the international game to play in those leagues. One big example is South Africa’s Quinton de Kock, who will be retiring from the format after the World Cup but will continue to play franchise tournaments.
All of this has put the format in jeopardy of going extinct, but that has kept the money from flowing in. The data suggests that this World Cup will massively help India financially, and it is.
The popularity of cricket in India will provide profit for any tournament held in the country in any format, but that has its drawbacks, too, as the organisers are often forced to bend to India’s will off the pitch.
However, what doesn’t change is that the cricket in the tournament has been great, with plenty of upsets in place and the general standard of big teams being broken.
India will hope to win the whole thing, but in the end, their economy already has.
Author- Neel Rahman
