The Mumbai Indians' Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya receive, respectively, Rs. 15 and 16 crore. When compared to all Indian sports, those are enormous sums of money. It is really large considering that it is only for about three months of cricket. However, when it comes to the amount of money made by the Indian Premier League team and its parent organization, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), what we are witnessing in terms of player salaries is merely the top of the iceberg.

The television rights have increased dramatically since the league's founding in 2008 and up until the most recent five-year agreement signed in 2023, providing the BCCI with the majority of the IPL's earnings. A Livemint report claims that for a six-year contract in 2011, the broadcaster Star Sports paid an annual sum of Rs 820 crore. For a five-year deal, it cost Rs 3270 crore annually in 2018. However, in 2023, the combined deal for TV and internet rights earned BCCI an incredible Rs 9768 crore annually for the IPL.

With the 10 franchises receiving 590 per cent of the cash made by the IPL through sponsorship deals or broadcast rights, they will inevitably become wealthier with each new cycle of television deals. The value of the franchises has climbed tremendously as well, even if the growth rate of the broadcasting rights has been a constant 23 percent annually.

The valuation of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) climbed by 48% between 2022 and 2023, per a Brand Finance analysis. Even the IPL's total worth increased by 433% from 2008 and 2023, reaching a valuation of Rs 89,000 crore.

What About the Pay for the Players?

Even though the IPL is entirely based on the gimmick of auctions, the players' pay appear handsome, but they are in no way commensurate with the rise in the league's, BCCI's, and teams' brand values.

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), and MI only paid players' salaries 33 percent of their total earnings, according to a credible source. It happened during the 2022–2023 season. As a result of the IPL's broadcast share skyrocketing, the percentage of money that IPL teams used to pay their players would drop even lower - to less than 33.