BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has claimed the organisation's franchise T20 tournament the Indian Premier League makes more money than the Premier League.
The IPL was founded by the BCCI in 2007 and has become a real juggernaut in the world of cricket, with the sport's biggest superstars able to earn millions for two months work. The Premier League, meanwhile, was founded in 1992 and both leagues have made billions in lucrative television rights deals.
And Ganguly has claimed the IPL "generates more revenue" than the Premier league. "I've seen the game evolve, where players like me earned a few hundreds and now have the potential of earning crores [millions]," Ganguly said at an India Leadership Council Event.
"This game is run by the fans, by the people of this country, and by the BCCI, which was formed by cricket fans. This sport is strong and will continue to evolve.
"The IPL generates more revenue than the English Premier League. It makes me feel happy and proud that the sport I love has evolved to become so strong."
Media giants are currently battling it out to agree a five-year broadcast deal with the IPL, which analysts believe will earn the BCCI up to $7.7 billion (£6.25m). And BCCI secretary Jay Shah is confident the new rights deal will make the IPL the second most lucrative sports league in the world in terms of "per match broadcasting fees".
Speaking to the Indian Express, Shah said: "At present, an NFL game costs a broadcaster about $17 million (£13m), which is the highest for any sports league. That's followed by English Premier League, at $11 million (£8.9m) and the Major League Baseball figure, too, is roughly the same.
"In the last five-year cycle, we got $9 million (£7m) from one IPL game. This time, going by the present minimum base price that we have set, BCCI will get paid $12 million (£9.7m) per IPL match.
"That’s a giant leap for Indian cricket on the world stage. We will be just behind the NFL."
