ODIs aren’t dying after all? ICC’s $638 million Champions Trophy revenue challenges T20 supremacy narrative

The ODI is losing its charm in the era of T20 cricket and the Indian Premier League is what we are told, but the International Cricket Council (ICC) revenue statement for 2025 suggests otherwise.

ICC's revenue fell last year, but the net surplus rose by 15% from $474 million in 2024 to $543.3 million in 2025 due to the Champions Trophy.

Champions Trophy boost for ICC

According to Economic Times, ICC's overall revenue fell to $756.3 million in 2025 from $776.6 million, which is a reduction by 2.6%. A big reason was lower event-related income. In 2024, ICC earned $728.5 million after hosting ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 and the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024.

More from Firstcricket

In 2025, it accumulated 3% lower, $706.1 million from the Men’s Champions Trophy, the World Test Championship Final, the Women’s Cricket World Cup and the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.

The majority of this income came from the Champions Trophy 2025, which was co-hosted by Pakistan and Dubai and won by India. Men's Champions Trophy generated $638 million. The T20 World Cup 2024 had generated $691 million, which shows that ODIs can give tough competition to T20s.

What helped ICC increase its surplus despite falling revenue is the fall in event-related costs. The spending was down by 31% to $159.1 million from $231.7 million.

As far as sources of revenue are concerned, ICC's major income came from media rights, with India accounting for almost 75% of the whole value.

ICC had signed a $3 billion deal with Disney Star for media rights between 2024 and 2027, but that comes to an end next year. And the next media rights value could very well decide the future of international tournaments and ODIs.

The ICC under Jay Shah's guidance has already initiated the sale of media rights for the 2028-20231 cycle and they are reportedly aiming to land a deal worth $2.4 billion, according to Economic Times.

To improve their chances, ICC is also exploring partnerships with Sony Pictures Networks India, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.