Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Faruque Ahmed said on Monday that they will share revenues earned from ticket sales in the just-concluded Bangladesh Premier League, country's lone franchise-based T20 tournament, reports Cricbuzz.
Faruque has promised to look into the possibility of introducing revenue sharing model. BCB boss decided to keep his promise after earning a hefty amount from ticket sales that according to him is close to what previous board earned in 10 editions.
“After being elected in August, I had several commitments. I believed that ticket sales could be a significant source of revenue for the Bangladesh Cricket Board, especially from tournaments like the BPL,” he said.
“This time, we achieved incredible success in ticket sales. A major reason for this was our shift to a fully digital platform – 100 percent secured, similar to how tickets are sold during the World Cup. Although we couldn't go entirely online, we introduced a new system to test it. In the first round, 35 percent of the total tickets were sold online, and in the next round, it increased to 40 percent,” he said.
“Throughout the BPL, we sold tickets worth approximately 12.25 Crore BDT. To give you a comparison - over the past ten editions of the BPL, the Bangladesh Cricket Board had generated around 15 Crore BDT in ticket sales. In just one year, we have come close to that figure. Additionally, we signed a three-year deal for ticket rights, worth 1 Crore BDT per year, which is a significant milestone,” he said.
“There were some challenges in the BPL. Since the ticketing system was new, there were initial difficulties. A couple of franchises also faced issues with payments, leading to some negative news. However, if we look at the overall picture-crowd participation, pitch conditions, ticket sales, audience engagement, and our TV production-we are continuously improving,” Faruque said.
“We have already started working on the next BPL. We have identified a suitable window for the tournament. With so many T20 leagues happening worldwide, scheduling clashes are common. We aim to organize it in a way that allows us to attract higher-quality foreign players,” he concluded.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
