IBL US$3 million short

According to India’s Economic Times newspaper, the Indian Badminton League (IBL) may have been a popular success, but it was far from a beneficial event for its maiden edition – “The total expenditure on the event was Rs 85 crore and we have been able to generate about 65-70% of that as revenues and the rest is loss,” said Ashish Chadha of Sporty Solutionz, the organizers, to the Indian newspaper. In U.S. dollar terms, this means that out of the US$13 million that the event cost altogether, it is falling more than US$3 million short.

The revenues – including media rights, sponsorships, merchandising and the US$100,000 participating fee for each of the six teams – were not enough to break even. Team owners, however, tend to think that the IBL is here to stay.  It is said that two more teams would be added next year. According to NDTV, their owners will have to be ready to spend around US $1 million including franchise fee, marketing costs, players’ fees and other costs.

Click here to read the full Economic Times report