The Indian Premier League (IPL), often touted as the fastest-growing sports league in the world, appears to have hit a stumbling block. For the first time since its inception in 2008, the growth curve of the league is declining. When the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) started the IPL, its valuation was INR 19,500 crore, which rose to INR 76,100 crore by 2025. While this is a big number, this is significant decline in the league's valuation overall.
A D&P Advisory report dated October 15 revealed that the IPL’s ecosystem value declined by nearly 8 percent from 2024 to 2025, representing the first decline in its history. That’s the immediate view; the broader view is even worse: the IPL ecosystem value is down a whopping 17.73 percent compared to its peak in 2023.
Report reveals sharp drop in IPL ecosystem value
The report titled Beyond 22 Yards - “The Power of Platforms, The Price of Regulation” attributes the decline to two key events: the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, and the JioCinema merger with Disney+ Hotstar. These events led to an aggregate loss of IPL ecosystem value estimated at INR 16,400 crore in the two-year period.
The new gaming bill had a significant impact, cutting INR 1,500–2,000 crore yearly in advertisement and sponsorship revenue as fantasy sports companies curtailed their expenditures. Meanwhile, the merger of JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar reduced bidding competition for broadcast and streaming rights, thus further reducing market value.
Still, there’s hope. The report discusses how global giants such as Netflix, Amazon, and Apple may become bidders for digital rights in future cycles, which makes sense because the digital audience exceeded TV viewership for the first time in the most recent IPL season. The "fantasy money" that is lost due to gaming restrictions will not be easy to replace.
The BCCI's financial success can be attributed directly to the success of the IPL. After opening with modest operational revenue of INR 1,000.40 crore in FY2008, the Board generated record revenues of INR 9,742 crore in FY2024. Of this revenue number, IPL accounted for INR 5,741 crore.
With the IPL's valuation down by INR 6,600 crore in a single year, experts predict a possible hit to the BCCI's revenue stream in the next financial cycle. Unless some of the new digital players and advertisers can fill the gap left by fantasy platforms, the board may see the growth curve flatten, something it has not seen in nearly two decades of IPL.
