1,000 times smaller than the IPL: How ‘big’ is the Big Bash really?

The 15th edition of the KFC Big Bash League begins this Sunday at Optus Stadium in Perth and the stakes are high—on and off the field.

When the franchise-based tournament first started in the summer of 2011-12 it was a very big deal, instantly capturing the imagination of cricket fans and commanding a significant share of sponsorship, ratings and media attention.

But a decade-and-a-half on, the Big Bash is under increasing pressure to maintain its status on the rapidly evolving global franchise cricket calendar.

It’s a task made even harder given the proliferation of cashed-up T20 and 100-ball tournaments around the world, some of which are now luring top T20 players from our shores, often at the direct expense of BBL franchises.

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How ‘big’ is the Big Bash?

First things first, the Indian Premier League remains the world’s dominant franchise cricket tournament—by a massive margin—as we’re about to be reminded once again with the annual IPL player auction taking place in Abu Dhabi next Tuesday.

With an estimated value of almost US$11 billion the IPL is close to 700 times bigger than the world’s number two tournament, the UAE-based International League T20.

Third on the list is another more recent addition, South Africa’s SA20, with six teams backed by many of the big IPL owners.

Then comes Cricket Australia’s Big Bash League in fourth place, currently valued at an estimated US$10 million which places it just ahead of England’s 100-ball T20 offshoot, The Hundred.

‘We want to run a league that comes second’ says Cricket Australia boss

While the IPL is in a league of its own—on and off the field—Cricket Australia has expressed a strong desire to grow and re-establish the Big Bash League’s global position in coming seasons, despite fierce competition.

“It’s going to be very hard to chase the IPL given the scale of cricket in India,” CA chief executive Todd Greenberg admitted earlier this year.

“But, unashamedly, we want to run a league that comes second.”

It’s a lofty ambition and in order to achieve it allowing private investment in Big Bash franchises has already been floated as a potential option, a move that could bring the BBL in line with rival tournaments—not to mention other sporting codes.

Whether (and when) private ownership in the BBL eventuates remains to be seen, but the table below shows where things currently stand.

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