The Indian Premier League’s financial boom has reached staggering heights, with star batter Virat Kohli emerging as the competition’s highest-paid player over its 18-year history.
According to a report released by Fanatic Sports and Hurun, Kohli has earned an estimated Rs 230 crore through his long-standing association with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The former India captain is one of the most popular and marketable atheletes in the world and is the only player in IPL history to have stuck with the same franchise since the inaugural IPL season in 2008.
Close behind him is Mumbai Indians (MI)’s Rohit Sharma, whose IPL earnings stand at Rs 227.2 crore, while Chennai Super Kings (CSK) legend MS Dhoni occupies third place with approximately Rs 200
crore in career league income.
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The report also underlined the massive growth in franchise valuations across the IPL ecosystem. The combined worth of all 10 teams has reportedly touched Rs 1.63 lakh crore.
Kolkata Knight Riders, co-owned by Shah Rukh Khan, tops the valuation charts at more than Rs 19,200 crore. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings follow closely with valuations of around Rs 18,400 crore each.
Industry projections in the study suggest that the average IPL franchise value could rise dramatically from the current USD 1.8 billion (approx Rs. 17,000 crore) — close to the valuation at which Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals found buyers recently — to nearly USD 15 billion (approx Rs. 1,45,000 crore) by 2032, reflecting the league’s expanding commercial reach and investor interest.
On a more sombre note, the report also highlighted the sharp financial divide between men’s and women’s cricket. Smriti Mandhana leads the earnings chart in the Women’s Premier League with cumulative income of Rs 13.7 crore, while the combined earnings of the top 10 women’s players remain below Rs 100 crore — half of Dhoni’s alone.
HIL’s financials
The study also examined the economics of the Hockey India League. Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh is the league’s highest-paid player with a salary of Rs 78 lakh. He is followed by forward Abhishek Nain at Rs 72 lakh and midfielder Hardik Singh at Rs 70 lakh.
Despite the lower pay scale, hockey was praised in the report for its strong grassroots pipeline. Overall, the report tracked 1,323 elite athletes representing 59 teams across six major leagues, spanning 53 countries and more than 500 cities worldwide.
