By shortening matches to around three hours, the format was designed to attract a younger crowd and boost attendances.

Immediately after the end of the first season of the Indian Premier League, the cricket authorities in India, Australia and South Africa entered into discussions to create a new international club competition and capitalise on this success.

The inaugural edition was to be held in October 2008, run by the cricket boards of India, England, Australia and South Africa, and featuring two teams from each country.

[10] England featured ICL players in many of their teams, including their domestic tournament's runners-up the Kent Spitfires.

[2][13] Following this, another problem arose with the International Cricket Council over the tournament dates, which clashed with the ICC Champions Trophy, and the CLT20 was moved to December 2008.

[14] In November 2008, the tournament was again put in jeopardy when Mumbai suffered terrorist attacks and the organisers attempted to reschedule again to early 2009.

"[5] ESPN Star Sports paid $900 million for the global broadcasting rights to every match for 10 years,[17][18] a deal comparable to when Sony Entertainment Television and World Sport Group purchased the rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) for $1.026 billion for ten years.

[19] Ahead of the 2009 edition, Bharti Airtel bought the title sponsorship rights for three years for reportedly $40 million.

[20] Despite this, the inaugural 2009 edition, held in India was not highly received by its targeted Indian audience, who only showed interest for the IPL teams.

According to TAM Media Research, it drew an average television ratings point of 1.06, much lower than the 4.1 achieved by the 2009 Indian Premier League.

Low viewership led to Bharti Airtel ending its five-year sponsorship deal after two years.

[21] Nokia signed a four-year deal to replace Bharti Airtel as the title sponsor but also withdrew after one year.

[28] Despite low viewership, the tournament succeeded in providing a global stage and significant financial support for low-profile teams.

Kieron Pollard helped Trinidad and Tobago finish runners-up in the 2009 edition, including an innings where he scored 54 runs off 18 balls.

[31] Sunil Narine and Kevon Cooper also earned IPL contracts after competing for Trinidad and Tobago in the 2011 edition.

Previously relatively unknown, Narine and Cooper were sold for $700,000 and $50,000 respectively at the 2012 IPL auction and made immediate impacts to their teams.

[32][33] In particular, Narine helped his team win the 2012 Indian Premier League and was named Player of the Tournament.

A qualifying stage was introduced in 2011, reducing direct entrants to only teams from India, South Africa and Australia.

Each edition has featured teams from India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

The Dhaka Gladiators, winners of the 2013 BPL, expressed their disappointment after being excluded in 2013 despite the efforts made by their management.

[56] It was originally intended for the host of the tournament to be rotated between the countries of the three shareholders: India, South Africa and Australia.