The hype around the Indian Premier League (IPL) includes the revelation of finances revolving around the players. Based on that, their performances are judged, and eventually, a conclusion is drawn in which it is decided whether a player has justified his value in the competition or not. However, it isn’t only the players who are making the big bucks in one of the most lucrative Cricket tournaments in the world.
The umpires are, obviously, a vital part of the sport. These authoritative individuals are capable of making game-changing decisions. But what are they making in the process? The umpires’ net worth depends on their classification. The board of umpires, involved in decision-making in the match and the smooth functioning of a game, is classified into the elite panel and developmental group.
The elite panel is the top-level umpires in the IPL. The list of these umpires includes Anil Chaudhary, Nitin Menon, S. Ravi, Richard Illingworth, Paul Reiffel, and Christopher Gaffaney. These umpires earn a match fee of INR 1,98,000, while those in the developmental group earn INR 59,000.
The developmental group includes Virender Sharma, K.N Ananthapadmanabhan, Yashwant Barde, Anil Dandekar, Paschim Pathak, and K Srinivasan. Incidentally, Menon, Illingworth, Reiffel, and Gaffaney are part of the ICC’s elite panel, while the rest of the Indian umpires are from the BCCI’s elite panel.
IPL umpire sponsors – PayTM – also hand each of these umpires a pay cheque at the end of the season. At this point, the pay cheque for umpires in IPL 2023 is unclear, but at the end of the 14th edition of the tournament, each umpire received a cheque of INR 7,33,000 from the sponsors that season.
Considering a total of 20 matches allotted to each umpire in a season of 74 matches. (70 in the league stage and 4 in playoffs), the elite umpires earn INR 2,34,650, while the developmental group makes INR 95,650 per game after considering the sponsorship fee. The elite umpires have a daily stipend of INR 12,500, which sums up their lodging and transport costs.
The daily stipend is only restricted to the elite panel as the developmental group only features in at least 20 matches of the tournament. Notably, former India fast bowler turned match referee Javagal Srinath is the highest-paid referee, reportedly earning INR 52,45,128 per season. Comparatively, the IPL umpires rake up much less than the players.
However, if you take the lowest-paid IPL players at the base price of INR 20,00,000 into account, then the amount earned by the elite umpires is much higher. For instance, the lowest-paid IPL player makes INR 1,42,857 per match, while the elite umpires earn INR 2,34,650.
The total amount raked up by the elite umpire per season for 20 matches is also significantly higher at INR 46,93,000. The difference between the amount the lowest-paid IPL player and the elite umpire rakes up is INR 26,93,000. The salary of the elite umpires does not include the stipend amount. The sponsorship value for umpires per season can change as per the sponsors’ decision.
