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WC prize purse not money-spinning like other major tournaments

FE Sports Desk | June 02, 2019 00:00:00


Held every four years, the ICC Cricket World Cup is one of the most-watched sporting events and the moment a winning team lifts the World Cup trophy is one of the most celebrated moments around the world.

The fact that the tournament only comes around every four years adds to the glory, but that is not the only thing the teams competing in the tournament are playing for. As with most top-level competitions in the modern era, there are financial rewards for winning the World Cup and even those who do not win are in for a lucrative boost.

There is a lot of money to be made. The total prize money for the Cricket World Cup is $10 million. The winner receives $4 million and the runners-up earn $2 million. The losing semi-finalists get $800,000 each at the end of the 46-day tournament being played across 11 venues.

On the outside, it may not seem like much, given how much the cricket players get paid, in addition to endorsements. However, $4 million is the highest amount of prize money in the history of the game. As an additional incentive, there is a prize for winning each match in the preliminary round-robin tournament. Those matches are valued at $40,000 per game, which is a hefty amount.

It gets better though, once the round robin stage is cleared. The teams will then be awarded a bonus of $100,000.

The prize money in the World Cup has indeed come a long way since 1975 when the tournament had started. In the inaugural edition which was won by the West Indies, the prize money for the champions was around just Rs 0.8 million. In 2007, the prize money was $2.24 million while in 2011, it was $3.25 million.

In 2007, the prize money was $2.24 million while in 2011, it was $3.25 million.

However, even though the forthcoming World Cup sees a prize money which is highest than ever, it is still not too high than that was given in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

In the just-completed IPL 2019 in which Mumbai Indians bagged the title, the total prize money stood at $7.2 million. The champion team on that occasion received a prize money of $2.9 million which is a little over Rs 0.2 billion.

For example, the total prize money on offer in the FIFA World Cup 2018 was a whopping Rs 400 million. The FIFA world cup final alone was worth more than six times the ICC World Cup, as the winners were paid $38 million while the runners-up got $28 million.

Other mega events like tennis grand slams also have a lot bigger purse for the winner. The French Open, which is also underway right now, has a prize money of $48 million, while Wimbledon, starting next month, will have a prize money of $49 million.

Aston Villa, recently, defeated Derby County in the Championship promotion play-offs. The playoff final is considered the most expensive single game of football in the world, with promotion earning Villa an estimated £170 million broadcast income in revenue.

Although, Australian Open (first Grand Slam of the season) prize money is less than Cricket World Cup.

Unfortunately, Cricket has no presence outside the Commonwealth nations and that is why the money involved in the two tournaments, football World Cup wins hands down.


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