International Cricket

ICC AGM 2026: Revenue Share Row BCCI vs Associates Decoded

Anjali Iyer 19 May 2026 Updated 19 May 2026 ~5 min read ~834 words

ICC Dubai office building exterior with sign reading International Cricket Council during AGM week

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The revenue-share row at the ICC Annual General Meeting in Dubai on May 15-16 was the second-biggest story of the week behind the two-tier Test vote, and it may end up being the one with the longer-running consequence. The dispute is structural. The BCCI receives a reported 38.5 percent of the ICC's 600-million-USD annual broadcast and sponsorship pool. The remaining Tier-1 boards share roughly 47 percent. The 12 Associate Members combined receive around 11 percent. The 96 Affiliate Members split the remaining 3.5 percent. The Associates' counter-proposal at this AGM sought a step-change in the Tier-2 and Affiliate share. The proposal did not pass, but it generated the most direct floor exchange of the week.

The Associates' counter-proposal in detail

The counter-proposal was sponsored by Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland, and the Cricket Association of Nepal, with formal support from USA Cricket and Cricket Netherlands. The headline ask: a phased increase to bring the Associate Members' share to 15 percent by 2028 and 18 percent by 2031. The counter-modelling assumed a baseline ICC broadcast and sponsorship pool of 640 million USD by 2028 driven by the upcoming media-rights tender, and the additional 4 percent would equate to approximately 25.6 million USD per year shared across 12 boards. The argument from the Associates is that the development pathway requires structural funding rather than tournament participation grants. The current model rewards qualifying for ICC events rather than building the year-round playing infrastructure.

The BCCI response, the public and private positions

The BCCI's public position at the AGM, as reflected in the post-meeting press summary, was that the 38.5 percent share is grounded in the proportion of broadcast revenue that the Indian market generates. The private position, as understood from board officials briefed on the conversation, is more nuanced. The BCCI has indicated openness to a modest Associate share increase if the funding is tied to specific T20 World Cup expansion projects, particularly the 20-team format for 2030. The condition the BCCI has reportedly attached: any Tier-1 share reduction must be agreed across all top-tier boards, not asymmetric to the BCCI alone. That condition has effectively created a coalition-bargaining problem for the proposers.

The bloc dynamics, who voted which way

The vote was closer than the 38-to-15 percent gap might suggest. Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland, the Cricket Association of Nepal, USA Cricket, and Cricket Netherlands voted in favour. Three other Associate boards abstained. Among Tier-1 boards, only the BCB and ZC formally supported the Associates' phased proposal. New Zealand abstained. The remaining Tier-1 group voted against. The proposers needed a clear two-thirds majority for governance changes of this scale, and the math was never in their favour. The proposal will return in 2027 in modified form, likely with a smaller phased increase and a specific tournament-development funding tie-in.

The development funding picture beyond the AGM

The longer-term funding question is structural. The ICC's Strategic Plan 2025-2030 commits to expanding the men's and women's T20 World Cup formats and growing the playing population beyond the current 12 Associate Members. The growth requires year-round funding for at least 8 new Associate Members. The Associates' argument at the AGM was that the current model cannot deliver this growth on the available 11 percent. The ICC's response is that it will accelerate development through targeted programmes rather than a general share increase. The two positions are not yet reconciled, and the next AGM in 2027 will likely return to the question.

What it means

The revenue-share row at the May 2026 AGM did not produce a structural change, but it did produce a credible Associates' coalition and a more specific modelling proposal that will return in 2027. The BCCI's private position is more flexible than its public one. The 2027 chair election will be a significant variable. Watch the proposals around the next ICC media-rights cycle. The 2024-2031 cycle ends and the next one is the genuine window for a step-change. The Associates need to keep the coalition together and produce a deliverable case for what 15 percent buys that 11 percent does not.