The Indian Premiere League (IPL) is one of the biggest leagues in the world. It is not only one of the biggest cricket leagues to have ever existed but is also one of the biggest and most popular league any sport has seen. People around the world wait for the IPL to commence as it provides them a sense of entertainment. However, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is a growing T20 league and is slowly gaining popularity among the masses. From begging conducted in the UAE to being conducted in Pakistan, the PSL has come a long way. However, SA pacer Dale Steyn had recently said that the PSL is more rewarding than the IPL. Steyn presented a different narrative by claiming that cricket often takes a back seat at the Indian Premier League. Steyn claimed that there’s so much emphasis on money that somewhere down the line, cricket gets forgotten in the IPL. So which is the more rewarding T20 league? IPL or PSL? Which is better? Today we shall be talking about which of the two leagues is actually bigger? IPL or PSL, an honest opinion.
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Let’s talk about the players revenue of both the Leagues
Well, it is really hard to compare the both. IPL originated way back in 2008 whereas PSL originated in 2016. Talking about comparing the two T20 leagues, it is a no brainer that IPL makes records for fun. It has an overall viewership of 405 million in 2020 has bragging rights over the elite Pakistani T20 tournament. While the 2019 World Cup final between New Zealand and England had a viewership of 15.4 million, the 2020 final between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals garnered a television audience of 31.57 million. While the PSL viewership is still high, it still can’t beat the viewership of a regular IPL match. Now let’s talk about money. IPL again beats PSL over here. The IPL has always been domestic cricket’s biggest carnival since its inception. Even an Indian all-rounder and youngster like Shivam Dube had a bigger signing fee (₹4.4 crores) at the IPL 2021 auction than the prize money of the PSL 2020 final. The budget of PSL doesn’t exceed Manish Pandey’s IPL fee. Last year’s champions Karachi Kings reportedly minted 5,00,000 USD (around Rs 3.72 crore) for clinching the PSL title in 2020. PSL 2020 winners Karachi Kings were handed Rs 3.72 cr. Now let’s talk about IPL, Rohit Sharma’ Mumbai Indians (MI) managed to win the title in 2020. They received Rs 20 crore for retaining their trophy for the fifth time.
Prize money is a big factor of any marquee event
Even the runners-up Delhi Capitals earned Rs 11 crore more than last year’s PSL finalist Lahore Qalandars. One of the most important factors other than money which set both teams aside are the availability and presence of the big names. While PSL have been blessed with the presence of Stars like Chris Gayle, Shane Watson, Brendon McCullum, Kevin Pietersen in the past, the modern day greats seem to be missing from their league. IPL on the other hand have the best of the best modern day greats playing for various IPL teams. Ben Stokes, Steve Smith, David Warner to Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Williamson and Eoin Morgan, every year IPL attracts some of the biggest names in white-ball. Not to forget that even they have had legendary players play for them in the past. Thus, to conclude we could say that IPL is still ahead of PSL and looks in no mood to slow down. PSL need a lot of catching up to do if they are to exceed IPL’s legacy. Besides, the quality has been superb to say the least so one must not underestimate the PSL.
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