Cricket has been played around for centuries since the 1500s. With over 100 nations in which Cricket is getting played, the International Cricket Council is the main governing body that makes the laws and rules in Cricket. But only a few of them are recognized as the Cricket playing nations. Cricket Boards of any nation play a pivotal role in structuring the Cricket Setup by giving the players the opportunities to participate in lucrative leagues organized by them such as the Indian Premier League, Big Bash League, Caribbean Premier League, and many others to generate ample revenue. Even the short commercials after every over and drinks break, jersey sponsorship, and tournament title sponsorship offer enormous opportunities for the boards to make considerable money. Today we shall look at the top 10 richest cricket boards in the world based on their disclosed net worth.
10. Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC)-INR 110 Crore
The Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) was established in 1975, Sri Lanka has consistently been producing decorated players born to set records, whether it is Muralitharan with the most number of wickets in international Cricket or the pioneer Sangakkara with dozens of Double Centuries. Since the Sri Lanka Cricket team is not doing well at the international level presently, and the pandemic is affecting the country adversely, the board had to make several cuts in contracts of players and staff. It is estimated that they might generate around INR 100 crores this year as their local league, Lanka Premier League, has boosted their board finance. Moreover, their recent win against India in the T-20 series will also lift the players' spirit in their upcoming matches, to win more matches for their team.
9. Zimbabwe Cricket Board (ZCB)-INR 113 Crore
Though Zimbabwe Cricket isn't as good as Sri Lanka in terms of stats and records, it takes a slight edge in the tally of the wealthiest cricket boards over them by generating revenue of INR 113 crores this year. There have been struggling times for Zimbabwe Cricket to survive in the heat of the cricket-playing nations due to internal politics and poor infrastructure revolving around their players and board. Despite all this, ZCB manages to lure sponsor companies such as Coca-Cola, Castle Lager, uMax, ZimGoldZim Gold, Vega Sportswear, and many others.
8. West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)-INR 116 Crore
There was a time when West Indies would rule Cricket World with its complete dominance, which could disrupt the opposition at any time. The Fear could be seen in batsmen's eyes while facing Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall, and Michael Holding with their stature and deadly pace. With the passing years, West Indies Cricket has been losing its dominance, especially in Test Cricket with their 7th place in the test cricket playing nations. Presently West Indies have been the favourites of the T20 format, with its players playing in different T-20 leagues across the globe. It has premier sponsors in Sandals, JetBlue, Betway, and Castore. Though there have been clashes between the players and board members, they have still managed to generate a revenue of INR 116 crores this year. With Kieron Pollard as their T-20 Captain and players like Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo, their eyes must be glued towards winning their third T-20 trophy.
7. New Zealand Cricket Board-INR 210 Crore
Establishing its roots in 1894, New Zealand Cricket has made long strides in World Cricket and now is seated on the throne of the World Test Cricket Championship. Despite losing two Consecutive World Cups, they have always held their head high and have given nail-biting matches against opponents. With a population of just over 4 million and Rugby being their popular sport, the New Zealand Cricket Board has touted to make around INR 210 Crores this year. Its premier sponsors are ANZ, Ford, Accor Hotels, Gillette, Powerade, Spark Sport, and Dynasty Sport.
6. Cricket South Africa-INR 485 Crore
Cricket South Africa, aka Proteas, was founded in 1991. Its headquarters is in Johannesburg. Cricket South Africa have held their place as one of the most prominent in the World Cricket with players like Jacque Kallis, Hashim Amla, Shaun Pollock, and many others. They had always shown high standards in their fielding, with Jonty Rhodes being their asset. There has been a slight decrease in the performance of Cricket South Africa, looking at their defeats against opponents in big tournaments. The CSA has always been flocked with sponsors, Betway, Momentum, Sunfoil, KFC, Powerade, SuperSport, Coca-Cola, and Castle, which helped CSA make INR 485 Crores this year. It was the amount they dearly needed during the pandemic when Cricket Australia cancelled its tour.
5. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)-INR 802 Crore
Cricket has extensively spread and been loved all over Bangladesh. It became the associate member of the ICC in 1977 and played its first test against India in the year 2000. They have improved a lot with years in terms of skills and temperament, giving an edge-to-edge fight to the top playing cricket nations and even ending up defeating them in major tournaments. Last year their U-19 team won the world cup, which boosted their Cricket Board finance and rejoiced their countrymen. They also organize their T-20 league as Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). And by the end of this year, they are expected to generate revenue of INR 802 crores.
4. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)-INR 811 Crore
Pakistan has always been a land of producing quality fast bowlers, whether it's the swing giant Wasim Akram, the Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Younis, and many other great bowlers Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), founded in 1949, has its headquarters in Lahore. Their World Cup win in 1992 was the major turning point for them in world cricket by knocking at the doors of England and Australia. It is estimated that INR 811 crores have been in the bags of the PCB this year as the pandemic made hurdles in their way of organizing their T-20 league PSL, which made them face some economic deficit in their budget. PEPSI, one of their principal sponsors, has also made an agreement with them till June 2021.
3. England Cricket Board (ECB)-INR 2135 Crore
Having THE LORD'S as the Home of Cricket, England has been writing the Cricket History since the 17th century and now counts into having one of the top 3 richest cricket boards around the globe. Being the national game of England, Cricket has been grouped into various domestic and county seasons, showing their pre-eminent infrastructure and the latest technology such as DRS, Hawk-Eye, which gave their board a distinct look from other boards. They have been hosting two major tournaments in a couple of years, first being the world cup 2019, their maiden world cup win, and later is the WTC final held in Southampton, thus generating a whopping revenue of INR 2135 Crores. Companies such as Vitality, Royal London, Lifebuoy, and New Balance have sponsorship deals with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
2. The Cricket Australia (CA)- INR 2843 Crore
The Five times World Cup Champion, Cricket Australia, has always been in the spotlight by setting up the benchmarks in Cricket History. Being the oldest playing cricket nation, Australia has played over 800 test matches, 958 ODI matches with an excellent winning ratio. Players like Ricky Pointing, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, McGrath have made their names in World Cricket with exceptional records. It is reported that CA will generate around INR 2843 crores through its men and women's cricket championship at the end of the year, and also it's the host for age-old rivalry against England THE ASHES scheduled in December. Alinta Energy, Dettol, Vodafone, HCL are some of the sponsors for Cricket Australia.
1. Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI)-INR 3730 Crore
The BCCI is currently the wealthiest Cricket Board compared to others, generating enormous revenue of INR 3730 crores at the end of this year. This drastic change in the board finance came with the advent of INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE (IPL), where people across the globe could be seen playing for their franchise. An average of 105 million unique viewers watched 17 matches in the first two weeks of IPL 2021, and it could have been even more if there wasn't the pandemic situation. Indian Cricket has evolved a lot from the past few years under Virat Kohli's captaincy by winning their first test series in Australia. Though they lost in the WTC final, they are all set to win the upcoming series against England. Contributions from MS Dhoni in winning ICC tournaments are valuable to be taken into account in the development of Indian Cricket.
