The economic slowdown seems to have hit the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as well. Ever since the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), it has been happening for the first time that they are now busy cutting costs on multiple fronts. In a circular sent out to all the stakeholders of the IPL, the board had decided not to host the opening ceremony of the IPL from this season on.
The circular went on to add that the standing fund of the playoffs has also been reduced for the same season. The board has proposed to reduce the payoffs standing fund to half for 2020, a decision that is being hotly debated by the franchises right now. The reports suggested that the IPL 2020 winner will get ₹10 cr, the runner-up (loser of the final) will receive ₹6.25 cr, and the third and the fourth-placed teams (loser of qualifier 2 playoff match & loser of the eliminator play-off match respectively) will receive ₹4.375 cr each.
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As per the reports of TOI, at least four franchises confirmed that they were not at all happy with the development. Two franchises further confirmed that they would be “debating” this with the concerned officials.
The BCCI’s venue agreement clarifies that the franchisees need to pay their respective state associations ₹30 lakh to host each IPL match. That fee has now been increased to 50 lakh per game to the state association. Under the same agreement, the BCCI pays the state association the same money per match as the franchises.
In IPL 2019, only uncapped Indian players could be loaned from one franchise to another during the season. For 2020, the overseas players and capped Indians can also be loaned. As te report stated, “Only players who have played in less than two complete matches in the playing XI or as a concussion replacement during the season may be subject to a player loan. The loan window will start at 9 am on the day following the 28th match scheduled for the season or once all the teams have played 7 matches each, whichever is later.”
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In a bid to further reduce costs, the BCCI has created new travel policies for its staff going forward. Barring some senior employees, the employees will now have to fly economy if the flying hours are less than eight as they got to fly business class earlier.
