ICC suffer huge Financial Loss during T20 World Cup - Will it bring a new Change?

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Although the T20 World Cup 2024 was a significant one for India as they ended their ICC trophy drought of 11 years, it was a disastrous one for ICC financially.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) faced a significant financial setback, losing around USD 20 million (Rs 167 crore) while hosting the T20 World Cup 2024 games in the USA, as per PTI.

This issue is expected to be a key discussion point at the ICC Annual Conference starting Friday in Colombo. Although not on the nine-point agenda of the Annual General Meeting (AGM), it will be addressed as a "post-event report."

Financial Losses from T20 World Cup

A significant portion of the T20 World Cup was held in the USA, including the highly anticipated India-Pakistan match in New York. The financial losses incurred will be scrutinised during the conference. The ICC's decision to host major matches in the USA aimed to expand cricket's global reach but resulted in unexpected financial challenges.

Many matches throughout the World Cup got abandoned due to rain, and a significant number of the cancelled matches took place in USA due to cyclonic weather in Florida. Hence ICC lost the ticket revenues from those matches and suffered a significant loss.

Will Jay Shah take over ICC?

Another critical topic for discussion during the AGM is Jay Shah, BCCI secretary, potentially replacing Greg Barclay as ICC chairman. According to PTI, an ICC source mentioned that everyone is keenly interested in Shah's transition to the world body's leadership.

"It is not about how but when, as he still has one year left as BCCI secretary before his cooling off period in Indian board starts in 2025 as per constitution," the source said.

There is speculation about changing the chairmanship term from three terms of two years each to two terms of three years each, which will enable Shah's transition from BCCI to ICC smoothly. George Barclay, who is the current chairman, may have to leave his post before the end of tenure if Shah emerges as a contender for the ICC role.