Mumbai Indians, IPL 2017, final, trophy, RPS
Mumbai Indians with their IPL trophy in 2017.IANS

Indian Premier League (IPL), already a roaring success among fans and cricketers, achieved another high on Monday (September 4) when Star India bagged the tournament's global media rights for a whopping sum of Rs 16,347.50 for five years (2018-2022) making the cash-rich Twenty20 event's each match bigger than Team India's.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has now gained more from brand IPL than the Virat Kohli-led Team India, in terms of the money splashed by Star India for media rights.

Star India also holds the media rights (TV, internet and mobile) for matches played in India. In 2012, they won the bid for Rs 3,851 crore, for a period of six years.

As per Star's bid, BCCI gets an average of Rs 40 crore per match. A total of 96 international matches will be played in India during the six-year time.

Now, the bid from Star for IPL has outgrown Men in Blue's contests at home. BCCI gets to earn Rs 54.4 crore per IPL match from 2018.

Each IPL season has 60 matches. As per Star's highest winning bid, they pay BCCI Rs 3,269.50 per year, which turns out be Rs 54.4 crore per contest.

There are eight teams in IPL. The tournament has completed 10 years. When it was launched in 2008, Sony won the media rights for Rs 8,200 crore for 10 years (2008 to 2017), which meant BCCI got Rs 13.66 crore per match.

India vs Sri Lanka, Kedar Jadhav, Virat Kohli
Indian players during a match.LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images

Over the years, brand IPL has grown massively. International cricketers dream of plying their trade in the league. There are T20 leagues across the world but IPL is hot property.

There has been a debate over some cricketers choosing clubs (IPL franchises) over country. And the latest media rights bid further reminds us the power of IPL.

In today's media rights bidding, Star won against rival Sony. The latter had quoted Rs 11,050 crore.

Despite this record bid amount, the man behind IPL, former commissioner – Lalit Modi feels the brand is worth more after a decade of success.

"So #StarSports wins global rights for @IPL I would've hoped a larger figure Deserved greater value after 10yrs of success #IPLMediaRights," he tweeted.

In another tweet, he said in a lighter vein, it is more than "GDP of Bhutan", "In a lighter vein, @ 16000 crore INR, #IPLMediaRights value is equal to GDP of Maldives and MORE than GDP of Bhutan ???????? #IPL ????????."

IPL had its share of controversies with two teams – Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) suspended for two years for corruptions. But that has not had any impact on the league with the latest Star bid.

IPL media rights

Rs 8,200 crore for 10 years (Sony) - 2008-2017

Rs 16,347.5 crore for five years (Star India) - 2018-2022

Team India's media rights (matches played at home)

Rs 3,851 crore (Star) for six years - 2012-2018