‘Hopefully, Indian Board rejects Saudi money’ – Fans react as reports of Saudi Arabian investment in IPL surface

In the last season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023), Visit Saudi was one of the sponsors of the tournament. Visit Saudi is a way of promoting tourism in the Middle Eastern nation and they sponsored a cricket tournament for the first time. Meanwhile, ahead of the player-exchange window and the player auction, it is reported that Saudi investment might come into the tournament.

As per the report on Bloomberg, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s advisers have spoken to Indian government officials about moving the IPL into a holding company valued at as much as $30 billion. At this point, the tournament is played under the umbrella of the Indian Cricket Board. Given the kind of exclusivity stance regarding players the board has had, it is highly unlikely that they will give away the tournament.

The report added that the talks were held when the crown prince visited India in September, further adding that the kingdom proposed investing as much as $5 billion into the league and helping lead an expansion into other countries. Notably, when Reuters reached the Indian Cricket Board, they were reported not to have commented on this development.

However, with the IPL being the richest league in the world, the Saudi crown taking an interest isn’t much of a stretch either.

This is how Twitter reacted