KKR surpasses Manchester United in growth

Mumbai: Indian Premier League side (PIL) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), have crossed world famous club Manchester United in terms of growth.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in its annual report, said that IPL as a brand is now worth $4.5 billion (Rs 27,000 crore approx). The figures that have been provided by valuation appraisal firm Duff & Phelps, also revealed the IPL 2016 reached a staggering viewership figure of 102 crore.

In fact, the revenue earned from IPL 2015 stood at around Rs 1,150 crore, which is more than 0.6 per cent of India's GDP.

The BCCI's report also revealed that the IPL is the fastest growing sports league (by virtue of number of Twitter followers) in the world, at 300 per cent. By comparison, the UEFA Champions League has grown by 239 per cent, NFL by 125 per cent, and NBA by 99 per cent, on the social networking website.

However, the most surprising thing that has come to the light remains the fact that KKR have surpassed Manchester United in terms of growth. The Shah Rukh Khan co-owned franchise has shown a growth of 300 per cent, according to the BCCI report. By comparison, Manchester United have only been able to register a growth of 204 per cent, in 2015/16.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/sports/cricket/230916/kolkata-knight-riders-surpass-manchester-united-in-growth.html