Cricket
Nagraj Gollapudi, News editor, ESPNcricinfo 7y

BCCI, ICC broker peace over financial model

Cricket

Peace has broken out in world cricket, as the BCCI and ICC have finally reached an agreement on a new finance model. The bare facts are that the BCCI will receive a little over US$100 million more than what was agreed upon by a vast majority of the ICC Board in meetings in April and most of the other boards will receive marginally less. Under this model, approved by the ICC Board on Thursday in London during the ICC's AGM, the BCCI will now receive US$405 million, $112 million more than in the original model, which was passed by nine votes to one in Dubai in April.

In the final model, seen by ESPNcricinfo, figures are based on the ICC earning US$2.7 billion in the new rights cycle from 2016-2023. After various ICC expenses and costs are taken out, the net surplus is US$ 1.776 billion; of this amount, Full Members will receive US$1.536 billion and Associates US$240 million. Out of the FM's share, the BCCI will receive US$405 million and the ECB US$139 million. Each of Cricket Australia, Cricket South Africa, Pakistan Cricket Board, New Zealand Cricket, Sri Lanka Cricket, Cricket West Indies and Bangladesh Cricket Board will receive $128 million. Those figures represent a US$ 4 million drop for each of the eight boards. Zimbabwe Cricket retains the same share that was presented in April - $94 million.

The total reduction of the eight boards - $32 million - as well as a $40 million cut from the Associates' share ($280 million in April) has likely gone some way to making up the BCCI's increase. That, as well as a cut in total ICC event costs of nearly $16 million; also notably absent from the financial model that was approved in February are proposed shares for Afghanistan and Ireland. It is not clear what the breakdown in revenue for Associates will be yet.

Though all sides will have breathed a collective sigh of relief, the BCCI will feel it especially pleased given the manner in which it was so comprehensively outvoted at the April meetings. At that meeting the BCCI had walked in demanding $570 million as what it thought was its due share. But it was outvoted 9-1 - the only Full Member board to oppose. Licking its wounds the BCCI also rejected a $100 million increase, offered to them as a compromise by the ICC chairman Shashank Manohar. In the intervening months the BCCI has clearly softened its stance and it is now clear it accepted Manohar's offer.

The BCCI's refusal to accept the new financial model - as part of changes drawing back from the short-lived Big Three era - had hovered over international cricket since February, when matters first came to a head. There was, briefly, a worry that the BCCI might pull India out of ICC tournaments, though that was swiftly assuaged when India played at the Champions Trophy.

A key detail is that the finance model is not part of the new constitution. During the last two Board meetings, the BCCI had insisted that the finance model be dealt with exclusively outside the constitution which caters mostly to the governance structure. An accompanying paper from the ICC on the new governance structure, seen by ESPNcricinfo, states that the details of a financial model will "be determined by the Board from time to time in a manner that may allow each member to receive a different level of distribution".

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