In a historic move, Saudi Arabia stunned the sporting world by signing the biggest superstar in football, Cristiano Ronaldo, for a record-breaking Rs 1770 crore deal. Ronaldo joined the Saudi Pro League football club Al Nassr after a fallout with his previous club, Manchester United, just before the FIFA World Cup 2022.
The footballer’s reported annual salary of over 200 million Euros makes it the largest contract a player has ever received in football history. Since his signing in December 2022, Al Nassr’s Instagram followers skyrocketed from 853k to over 10 million, creating a world record.
Following the successful signing of Ronaldo, Saudi Arabia is now looking to take on the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the richest cricket league in the world. Although there are several cricket leagues worldwide, including the Big Bash League in Australia, Pakistan Super League, and Caribbean Premier League, none come close to the IPL in terms of generating revenue.
The IPL is the second-largest sporting league globally, just behind the NFL. It attracts the best cricket players worldwide, and fans get to see the top Indian cricketers compete against each other. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not authorized contracted players to feature in any overseas leagues.
Saudi Arabia is in discussions with the BCCI to host Indian cricketers in a T20 league outside the IPL, making it the first country to do so. Moreover, Saudi Arabia is also looking to entice IPL team owners to join their upcoming league that can match the IPL’s financial scale.
If Saudi Arabia succeeds in obtaining BCCI’s clearance and getting Indian players on board for their T20 league, it will have far-reaching implications for international cricket, which is already struggling to cope with the rising number of franchise cricket tournaments.
Saudi Arabia’s signing of Ronaldo was a game-changer, and they are now targeting the IPL’s financial might in the world of cricket. With discussions underway, the world waits to see if the BCCI will sanction Indian cricketers to play in Saudi Arabia’s T20 league, paving the way for a new era in cricket.
