BCCI market for IPL, bilateral cricket to shrink with ICC’s event-a-year plan
Hindustan TimesDespite much internal turmoil in the International Cricket Council, which also saw the CEO displaced, the alternate commercial view of having a white-ball world event every year has prevailed in its boardroom. With only the Big Three cricket boards having attractive bilateral broadcast deals, the other boards more dependent on revenue from ICC events will benefit from having one global event every year as well as expanded fields for ODI and T20 World Cups. Many boards would begin to design their white-ball bilateral cricket schedules to boost the team’s prospects for the ICC event that year. In a sport where commercial conflicts of club versus country are at a nascent stage, ICC events every year will compete with the T20 leagues every powerful board now has. With four T20 World Cups, two ODI World Cups and two Champions Trophy editions in the fresh eight-year cycle, ICC events become attractive buys for broadcasters.