Saudi Arabia eying a big stake in IPL; Willing to invest in the Indian T20 league - Reports

Saudi Arabia crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman held talks about IPL during G20 meeting.

Saudi Arabia has expressed its intention to take a 40% stake in India’s most business-friendly and successful T20 league, Indian Premier League. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia proposed a $5 billion investment in the league to help them expand into other countries as well. According to a report from Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s advisor also spoke to Indian government officials in this regard.

Currently, the valuation of Indian Premier League is around $3.2 billion. IPL has been the most successful and business-friendly league in the world. After IPL’s success, other boards have replicated the same model of franchise cricket with a bit of a twist. Now, most of the full International Cricket Council (ICC) members have started their own T20 tournament, but they haven’t reached the business-friendly model of IPL.

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has also proposed to transfer IPL to a private holding company with a $30 billion stake. According to media reports, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman held a talk with Indian counterparts during the G20 held in New Delhi in September this year. Currently, Saudi Arabia Tourism and Aramco are the two main sponsors in Indian Premier League. Saudi Arabia are eyeing investment in multiple sports ventures.

Previously, Saudi Arabia invested heavily in golf and football. Saudi Arabia’s football league also gained worldwide recognition after Cristiano Ronaldo’s signing of a contract with football club Al Nassr earlier this year. IPL franchises have expanded worldwide by owning several teams in other leagues as well. SA20’s all teams are owned by IPL franchises, similarly, in MLC and CPL, a few teams have found representation from IPL.

BCCI is also looking to expand Indian Premier League, but they might not want to lose the right to make any calls regarding the league. BCCI is thinking about expansion of two different IPL tournaments in one year, and they are hosting the upcoming auction out of India, in Dubai. BCCI have not responded yet to the reports of Saudi Arabia’s willingness to invest a heavy amount and eyeing a big stake in the league.

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