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| ICC headquarters in Dubai | Photo: ICC |
The name of the governing body of cricket is abbreviated as 'ICC', and the full name is the International Cricket Council. However, critics sometimes call it the 'Indian Cricket Council' to indicate India's dominance and influence in the ICC. The recently retired ICC Chairman Greg Barclay even said when leaving office that having so much power and influence in one country is not conducive to spreading the game of cricket globally.
The biggest reason for India's influence in the ICC is its huge market. Cricket is the most popular sport in the country of 1.4 billion people, which is a major source of income for the ICC. The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) receives the largest share of the dividends that the cricket governing body gives to its member countries. So much so that no other country gets even a third of what India does.
In 2023, the ICC finalized the financial structure of how much dividends it will give to its member countries over the next four years. The ICC has not released any official information on this matter. However, popular cricket portal ESPN cricinfo brought this information to the fore with reference to relevant documents. Cricbuzz also confirmed the matter later, citing an email sent by the BCCI to its state cricket associations.
The then BCCI secretary and current ICC chairman Jay Shah wrote in that July email that India received 38.5 percent of the revenue allocation from the ICC. To be more precise, if the ICC distributes Rs 100 in dividends among its member countries, the BCCI will receive Rs 38.5. Except for India, no other country will receive double-digit amounts. The second highest will be the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) with Rs 6.89, and the third highest will be Cricket Australia (CA) with Rs 6.25.
The ICC had estimated a total of $600 million for the period 2024-27. Accordingly, Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) will get a total of $231 million over four years, of which $41.3 million for the ECB and $37.5 million for the CA. It is worth noting that among the other boards, there were reports of a proposal of 4.46 percent or $24.74 million for the Bangladesh BCB and 5.75 percent or $34.5 million for the Pakistan PCB. It is not known whether this changed at the time of final approval.
The ICC Board of Directors' Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee has set the financial framework for how much each country's board will receive. The dividend is divided based on four criteria: the country's cricket history, its performance in ICC tournaments in both boys' and girls' categories over the past 16 years, its contribution to the ICC's commercial revenue, and its contribution to full ICC membership, which is the same for all countries.
The reason for India's higher income is mainly commercial. In an ICC document, Cricinfo saw that 85.3 percent of the commercial income of the global cricket body is mentioned as BCCI. Although a full explanation for this has not been found. However, one of the sources of ICC's income is broadcasting or media ownership, which is the main source of India. In 2023, India's Disney Star signed a broadcasting contract with ICC for the next four years. The contract value of which is 3.1 billion dollars.