The IPL's overall valuation fell by 8 per cent to Rs 76,100 crore in 2025.
With the Indian Premier League's overall valuation dropping for the first time in two consecutive years, D&P Advisory anticipates the League's valuation to remain mostly flat next year, with minor changes in the range of 3 to 4 per cent.
"Over-reliance on the broadcast revenue is the key reason why we are in this phase today," said Santosh N, managing partner, D&P Advisory, which is a premier valuation services provider, and a boutique transaction advisory firm.
If the sudden ban on the real money gaming (RMG) sector had not been imposed, Santosh emphasised then there would not have been a drastic change in this year's overall IPL valuation.
This comes after the IPL's overall valuation fell by 8 per cent to Rs 76,100 crore (Rs 761 billion) in 2025 due to media rights consolidation as JioStar merger ended competitive bidding, tempering rights escalation, and a ban on the RMG segment, according to a D&P Advisory report titled Beyond 22 Yards 2025.
This came after the League's overall value dropped from Rs 92,500 crore (Rs 925 billion) in 2023 to Rs 82,700 crore (Rs 827 billion) in 2024.
On the other hand, the Women's Premier League (WPL) saw its value drop from Rs 1,350 crore (Rs 13.5 billion) in 2024 to Rs 1,275 crore (Rs 12.75 billion) this year as commercially the WPL is not immune and faces the same headwinds as IPL does.
'This one-two punch has created the first sustained downturn in IPL's commercial history, reducing the ecosystem's valuation by nearly Rs 16,400 crore or $2.4 billion in just two years,' the report stated, adding that the RMG segment used to contribute about Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) to Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) annually across league, franchise, and broadcaster deals.
Santosh added that IPL valuations depend majorly on media rights and as of now, there are no major players to compete with JioStar for the 2027 media rights cycle.
He noted that the Sony-Zee combined entity could have been a major player in competing against JioStar, and moving ahead, there can be a possibility of a consortium of players bidding for the media rights cycle in the coming years.
Meanwhile, Karan Taurani, executive vice-president of Elara Capital, said he doesn't see an exponential growth in the IPL in the current media rights cycle (2023-2027).
He further corroborated Santosh's view and added that IPL's valuation could be flat in 2026 compared to this year.
"All the metrics like viewership and interest are just going one way, and that's moving in the right direction (viewership rising).
"People are now watching almost all the matches, even non-important matches are drawing viewer interest. It has now become a ritual.
"The issue is, how can teams monetise it and convert this fan following into revenues... something that the teams should figure out," Santosh added.
In comparison, in other sports leagues in Western countries or Europe, a significant portion, like 40-50 per cent of revenue, is generated by the franchise for the league through match day revenue, merchandising, licensing, and better monetisation of their loyalty base, forming a critical component for the league.
In India, around 15 to 20 per cent of revenue comes from franchises.
Franchise-wise, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has topped the list in terms of brand rankings, followed by the Mumbai Indians (MI), and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
"Valuation could only be driven by business, and I think we will have to innovate in terms of new technologies (to drive IPL's valuation)," said Taurani.
While the RMG segment will not be able to advertise, franchises have lost their major sponsors, including front-jersey sponsorship.
Santosh added that if franchises are not able to fill this gap, there could be an impact on their revenue in the next season.
However, the report noted that franchises are moving towards stable categories like automobile, BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance), healthcare, and consumer technology brands as their sponsors.
'In effect, consolidation has transitioned the IPL's media rights market from episodic, auction-driven escalation to a more stable but less contestable framework,' the report stated.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
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