IPL media tender yet another celebrated event in India's booming growth as a cricket superpower

The long awaited IPL media rights tender is finally out. With the BCCI putting out the announcement, there is intense speculation already what the value for the property for the next five years will be.

An informed guess is close to 50,000 crores, a figure that will be revolutionary to say the least. With many takers for the property, it is realistic to expect astronomical bids demonstrating to the world the brand value of the IPL and the financial muscle of the BCCI.

With the IPL, India has been able to consolidate its pole position in world cricket and everyone, from players to marketers to industry professionals from across the globe, now seek out the IPL to advance their careers.

South African players, for example, have chosen the IPL over Test cricket and have done so openly. Cricket South Africa too did not stop the players from doing so. Almost all the Australian stars will soon be in action and a large number of England players are already in India, not to forget New Zealand greats like Kane Williamson and Trent Boult.

Check out the IPL orange cap 2022 here.

India supports the global chain of cricket

The IPL is reflective of the larger story of India’s growth. It is about a resurgent country using its soft power to make a telling statement. Sport has always been a vehicle of assertion and India is now using the IPL to speak out at the global stage. The tender is one more step in this journey.

It highlights the consuming power of the growing Indian middle class, the potential that the Indian market offers for global players and is proof of the appetite of the market despite the interruptions caused by Covid. Through the IPL, a uniquely Indian property, a confident class of men and women are now ready to face the world without inhibition and apprehension.

It doesn’t matter whether they speak a particular language. It doesn’t matter if they follow what is well established as the world’s best practices model governing sport. And it is of no relevance how things are done in the West. India does things its own way and it is now for others to emulate and follow. It is India that supports the global supply chain of cricket and all other nations can do is offer help and support. The world needs India and not the other way round. That’s what the IPL is all about- the story of incredible India in all its bloom.

The valuation of the two new IPL teams and the expected value from the media rights is proof of the global acknowledgement of the potential that India now offers. With billion dollar valuations of all the IPL teams an expected reality in the next few years, the growth story is only expected to turn richer in the future.