BCCI staring at losses worth INR 40 billion if IPL 2020 gets cancelled

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may incur a colossal loss of Rs 40 billion, which is more than half-a-billion dollars, if the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) doesn’t take place. The tournament was earlier scheduled to start on March 29, but was postponed to April 15. However, after the lockdown in India was announced until May 3, the IPL had to be postponed indefinitely.

Chances of the IPL not taking place at all can’t completely be ruled out. The coronavirus pandemic has put most cricket tournaments to a halt and it’s not know when action will resume. Even the T20 World Cup later this year in Australia is under the clouds due to the grave global situation.

“The BCCI is looking at a big revenue loss. In case the IPL does not take place, the loss would be close to 40 billion rupees ($530 million), or even more,” BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal was quoted as saying in NDTV Sports.

Pay cuts also on the cards: BCCI treasurer

For the time being, there’s very little one could do. Recently, even Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president, said that no cricket would be played in the near future as life is more previous than the sport.

Previously, India’s ODI series against South Africa was also cancelled. But it’s the IPL that generates bulk of BCCI’s revenue, which is thought to be worth more than $11 billion a year to the Indian economy.

“We are not sure whether we will be able to have it this year. We will only be able to figure out the exact revenue loss once we are sure of how many games we have lost,” Dhumal stated.

Dhumal, who joined the BCCI with Ganguly the secretary Jay Shah, said that the board won’t wish to resort to pay cuts for the players.

“That would be the last thing that we would want to do at our end. That is why we are working (on) how much is the loss finally we have to pay. So, once we are able to assess that then we might consider it, but it will be the last thing on our agenda,” he added.

Dhumal also quipped that India’s tour of Sri Lanka in June would only go ahead if the pandemic eases. For the BCCI, the safety and health of the players are paramount.