Bangladesh Cricket Board president Faruque Ahmed sharedon Monday that they will share revenues earned from ticket sales in the recently-concluded Bangladesh Premier League, the franchise-based T20 tournament as well. However, franchises of the BPL have always opined on revenue sharing, though the BCB led by Nazmul Hasan didn’t act on it as well.
Meanwhile, Faruque, who took over the charge in August after Nazmul was ousted following the change in government, opined on this and the possibility of introducing revenue sharing model as well. He also decided to keep his promise after earning a huge amount from ticket sales, that according to him is near to what the board had earned in 10 editions as well.
“After being elected in August, I had several commitments. I believed that ticket sales could be a significant source of revenue for the Bangladesh Cricket Board, especially from tournaments like the BPL,” said Faruque. “This time, we achieved incredible success in ticket sales. A major reason for this was our shift to a fully digital platform – 100% secured, similar to how tickets are sold during the World Cup. Although we couldn’t go entirely online, we introduced a new system to test it. In the first round, 35% of the total tickets were sold online, and in the next round, it increased to 40%,” he said.
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“Throughout the BPL, we sold tickets worth approximately 12.25 Crore BDT. To give you a comparison – over the past ten editions of the BPL, the Bangladesh Cricket Board had generated around 15 Crore BDT in ticket sales. In just one year, we have come close to that figure. Additionally, we signed a three-year deal for ticket rights, worth 1 Crore BDT per year, which is a significant milestone,” he again shared.
“One of the major demands from franchises was revenue sharing. At that time, I told them that I wasn’t sure about the exact profit margins, so I couldn’t make any commitments. Now, I have good news for all franchises. Although we couldn’t introduce revenue sharing across all aspects, we will provide them with a fair share from ticket sales,” he further added.
“This time, we also introduced third and fourth-place prizes, increasing the prize money by 70%. There were some challenges in the BPL. Since the ticketing system was new, there were initial difficulties. A couple of franchises also faced issues with payments, leading to some negative news. However, if we look at the overall picture-crowd participation, pitch conditions, ticket sales, audience engagement, and our TV production-we are continuously improving,” he expressed.
“We have already started working on the next BPL. We have identified a suitable window for the tournament. With so many T20 leagues happening worldwide, scheduling clashes are common. We aim to organize it in a way that allows us to attract higher-quality foreign players.
Faruque also met with former captains at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday to discuss future plans as well.
“The meeting was very fruitful and they have given us some advice and suggest that we believe can be helpful for us if we can implement that in future,” he concluded.
