We all know that Indian Premier League (IPL) is the richest and most successful T20 league in the world. In 2007, the IPL completed 10 years and it would be fair to say that craze for this extravagant T20 tournament has only increased every year.
In the last 10 years, some of the best players in the history of the game came to India and participated in the tournament. This has helped in increasing the brand value and, also, it has been a great learning experience for domestic cricketers in India to share the dressing with the best cricketers in the world.
Recently, a report published by Duff & Phelps, a New York-based corporate finance advisory firm in Mumbai, stated that IPL is now valued at Rs. 34,000 crore (5.3 billion dollars). It is noteworthy that these numbers have increased by 26 per cent from its 2016 valuation of Rs 27,000 crore (4.2 billion dollars).
“It was relatively controversy-free tournament, coupled with some scintillating on-field performances which have brought the spotlight back on the game. On field, Mumbai Indians were by far the best team throughout the season and were deserving winners for a record 3rd time. Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), who were playing in the IPL for the last time, went out with a bang,” said Varun Gupta, the managing director of Duff & Phelps.
The report Duff & Phelps credits massive title sponsorship deals and television rights as the primary reasons behind the rise in IPL’s brand value. In the tenth season, Chinese smartphone manufactures VIVO paid Rs 2,199 crore for the title rights of the IPL for its next five editions. And, IPL generated 1.25 billion dollars through its broadcast across the five Sony channels on Indian television.
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Despite spot-fixing allegation and conflict of interest issues, the brand value and viewership of IPL has increased every year and there is no reason why it won’t keep growing in the coming years. Today, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the richest cricketing board in the world, and the Indian Premier League has played a big role in making it happen.
