After the monumental success of the 2007 T20 World Cup, the shortest format has taken over the cricketing world in an unforeseen fashion. The T20’s were introduced to boost the number of spectators in the domestic games until the Australians played in the first official T20I against New Zealand.
As a result, there was a spike in broadcast revenues across the world. With the introduction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by the BCCI, the viewership for the format shot through the roof. As a result, India’s apex board grew richer and richer with all the sponsorships it managed to attain.
The growth of T20’s has been further fueled as the result of a few more leagues being introduced by the boards of other countries. With the increase in the amount of revenue being generated, the cash prize for the teams involved also increases.
Here we take a look at the T20 leagues sorted according to the cash prize offered:
5) T20 Vitality Blast
The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 as the first professional Twenty20 league in the world. It is the most competed Twenty20 competition in England and Wales. This league was launched after the board decided to engage younger fans in fast-paced cricketing action.
The prize money for the champions of the 2020-21 Blast is £175,000 (INR 1.81 cr), while the runner-up gets £78,000. The losing semi-finalists get £14,000 each, while there are special bonuses for the player of the tournament which currently stands at £5000.
4) The Big Bash
The Big Bash is an Australian professional T20 League, which was started by Cricket Australia in the year 2011. These matches are usually held in the Australian summer: December, January, and February. It features eight city-based franchises, just like the Indian Premier League. The current holders are the Sydney Sixers who defeated the Perth Scorchers by 27 runs in the final.
Although the prize money of the Big Bash hasn’t been officially published, sources state that the winning team will get $450,000 Australian Dollars (INR 2.54 cr). The runners-up will get $220,000, the losing teams in the semi-finals will get $80,000 each and the 5th placed team will get $20,000. There is also an additional bonus of $600,000 if a team manages to win the tournament unbeaten.
3) Pakistan Super League
This league was established in September 2015 by the Pakistan Cricket Board. It is usually held during the months of February and March, and the latest season has six teams competing for the trophy. Although the league was postponed last year following an outbreak of covid-19 in the bubble, it was resumed recently.
The Karachi Kings are the defending champions, having beaten Lahore Qalandars by 5 wickets in the final. They earned $500,000 (INR 3.66 cr) as a cash prize, while the runners-up Qalandars bagged $200,000. The 3rd and 4th placed teams get $100,000 and $50,000 respectively.
2) Bangladesh Premier League
The Bangladesh Premier League was formed in 2011 by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. It is one of the three professional cricket leagues in Bangladesh. It consists of seven franchises that compete against each other twice. The defending champions are the Rajshahi Royals, who defeated the Khulna Tigers by 21 runs in the final.
As a result, the Rajshahi took home $850,000 (INR 6.23 cr) while the Khulna Tigers got $350,000. The 3rd and 4th placed teams earned $200,000 and $150,000 respectively. According to sources, the top run-scorer and wicket-taker bag $100,000 each as well.
1) Indian Premier League
The IPL was founded in the year 2007 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It consists of eight franchises based out of eight different cities. It is the most-attended cricket league in the world. Mumbai Indians won the latest edition of the IPL that was held in UAE, by defeating Delhi Capitals in the final.
Mumbai Indians received prize money of $2.9 million (INR 21.2 cr). Runner-ups Delhi earned $1.8 million. The third and fourth-placed teams got paid $1.3 million. This humongous prize pool might be due to the expensive broadcast deals signed by the BCCI.