Inside the economics of an India-Pakistan World Cup clash

An India-Pakistan match is undoubtedly the lifeblood of world cricket, and when the International Cricket Council (ICC) sells its media rights bouquets, one of the key elements in the discussions (if not essentially written in the tender document) could be the number of India-Pakistan games in that particular rights cycle. But is the value of a contest between the arch-rivals really worth $250 million, as is being widely speculated in the media?

An industry insider, conversant with the game's media rights agreements across various regulators - including the ICC - wondered, "If only it was so expensive.. the ICC would be the richest sporting body in the world."

Overstating facts is not unusual in the business world and sporting narratives, but a juxtaposition with the Asia Cup deal for Sony Sports - worth about $170 million for four Asia Cup editions, in which India and Pakistan are slated to meet far more often than in the current four-year cycle of the ICC rights package - could place things in perspective.

In one edition of the continental championship, the arch-rivals face off at least twice, with the potential for a third clash in the final - as happened in the last Asia Cup in September 2025. Theoretically, over the course of the deal, there will be between nine (as the last edition had seen three matches) and 12 high-voltage contests. With no guarantee that India and Pakistan will reach the final in all of the remaining three Asia Cups, it would be fair to assume that the $170 million deal translates to roughly 10 clashes between the traditional foes, which comes to about $17 million per game.

But such an inference is not without an element of fallacy and the danger of settling for that valuation is that it can be misleading, since there would be other India games in the Asia Cup and the worth of each India game averages around $10 million. There would be non-India games too but they do not carry too much financial heft. Still, it can be inferred that an India-Pakistan game in the Asia Cup is valued at around $15 million.

But the Asia Cup package can only be an indicator, not an affirmation, of the price, primarily for a few reasons. An ICC or World Cup game between India and Pakistan is higher in profile, carries far greater significance than an Asia Cup contest, and lastly, the ICC rights bundle went to Sony unopposed. There were no competing bidders, and Sony acquired the rights at the base price.

In contrast, the ICC rights were won after an intense triangular bidding war among Star Sports, Jio and Sony. Star clinched the rights for $3.2 billion, with the second-highest bid at $1.6 billion. Potentially, there are about 30 India games in the four-year ICC cycle, including the possibility of four or five contests between the feuding neighbours.

There are, however, other versions to the $250 million number that has surfaced in the media. More than just the price of the media rights, the total turnover from an India-Pakistan match could be as much, including ticketing, sale of corporate boxes, merchandise and in-stadium advertisements.

"It's not just another game of cricket; it is one of the commercial backbones of an ICC event," said Faisal Hasnain, a former CFO of the ICC, in a social media post. He pointed to the value of television commercials, noting that a single minute of advertising could be worth $250,000 for the broadcaster, and that an entire match can generate up to $60 million in advertising revenue alone.

"History suggests that the total commercial value of this match can be $200-250 million," he said, indicating that the revenue impact of the game is not necessarily the same as the media rights price of the match.

Coming back to the price of the match, in a way, it can be argued that a World Cup game could be worth roughly double the value of an Asia Cup match, which would mean the February 15 contest - now in danger of not being played - could be valued at around $30-35 million, approximately the same as the Pakistan Cricket Board's share of ICC revenue.

The ICC may be able to recover the losses by withholding that payment if Pakistan indeed boycotts the February 15 game. However, matters may not be as simple as the PCB's speculated insistence on recalling the Bangladesh team into the World Cup event at this stage of the tournament to fulfil its India obligation.