After the initial season in 2023 proved to be an overwhelming success, South Africa’s premier T20 league, known as SA20, garnered enormous popularity. On Wednesday, January 10, the second season begins in Gqeberha with a match between the Joburg Super Kings and the defending champion Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
Fans are eagerly anticipating the second iteration of the six-team competition. This league involves a significant amount of money. Where the Rainbow Nation League stands in relation to other major leagues worldwide in terms of financial inflow, particularly the Indian Premier League (IPL), is a frequently asked subject in the cricket community.
For the unaware, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the victorious team in the 2023 Indian Premier League, took home a prize money of Rs 20 crore. Gujarat Titans (GT), the squad that came in second, took home Rs 13 crore. A prize of 34 million rand (about Rs 15 crore) will be awarded to the winning team in the SA20 second edition. The winning team would receive a prize money split of 16.25 million rand (about Rs 7.2 crore).
For the last three seasons, the winning IPL team has received prize money totaling Rs 20 crore. Before being quadrupled the next year, the winning prize money in the 2020 Indian Premier League was Rs 10 crore. Since the 2022 Indian Premier League, the runner-up team’s prize money has been Rs 13 crore.
In terms of prize money, Cricket South Africa‘s (CSA) premier event is now only surpassed by the Indian Premier League. The South African Cricket Board is making every effort to elevate its competition. Notably, Rs 15 crore was awarded as prize money to the winner both years prior.
In terms of winners and runners-up prize money, how does the PSL compare to the IPL and SA20?
In contrast, the Pakistan Super League (PSL), another well-liked franchise tournament, stands quite apart from both the SA20 and the IPL in terms of prize money distribution. After winning the PSL 2023, Lahore Qalandars were awarded PKR 120 million, or roughly INR 3.40 crore. Multan Sultans, who came in second, had to settle for PKR 48 million, or around INR 1.36 crore.
The clubs in the 2023 Indian Premier League had a total of Rs 46.50 crore in prize money up for grabs. PSL 2023 offered prize money of 168 million Pakistani rupees, or roughly Rs 4.76 crore. In contrast, the prize pool for SA20 2024 is R70 million (about Rs 31.1 crore).