IPL 2025 – BCCI introduces match fees for players

The development, it is learned, is yet to be formally shared with the ten IPL franchises who continue to await the final retention rules ahead of the mega auction in which squads for the 2025 season will be picked. The franchises, though, were appraised of the IPL’s thinking during a meeting with team owners and representatives in July to discuss the retention rules.

During these discussions, the IPL is understood to have told the franchises about the need to incentivise players financially considering the teams were getting more money than before. One of the reasons behind the IPL’s proposal was to enhance the earnings of players signed at or near their base price at the auction and retained at the same price even though their stature had grown since. At the 2024 auction, the lowest base price was INR 20 lakh (US$ 24,000 approx.) for uncapped players, and INR 50 lakh (US$ 60,000 approx.) for capped players.

An example of a this would be the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Rajat Patidar, who was first signed as an uncapped player for his base price of INR 20 lakh, and then had his salary bumped up to INR 50 lakh when he won his India cap. Patidar played 15 matches during IPL 2024, which means he would have earned an additional INR 1.125 crore for the season if match fees had then been in place.

The IPL’s recommendation of paying match fees was countered by several franchises who asked what happens to players on the bench. Until IPL 2024, as part of their contracts, players received a discretionary fee from the franchises’ overall auction purse based on where the team finished the previous season. This was called Incremental Performance pay. One of the suggestions given to the IPL was, instead of paying a match fee, to finalise the amount to be put in the incentive pot, which the franchise could use at its discretion to reward their performers. However, the IPL seems to have stuck to its original plan.