IPL’s billion-dollar momentum faces rare reversal
After years of skyrocketing growth, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is witnessing a significant reset. For the first time since its inception, the league has reported two consecutive years of valuation decline. According to a report by consulting firm D&P Advisory, released on Wednesday, 15th October 2025, IPL’s valuation has dropped to ₹76,100 crore (approximately US$8.7 billion) in 2025, down from ₹82,700 crore (US$9.4 billion) in 2024 and ₹92,500 crore (US$10.5 billion) in 2023.
This staggering two-year dip of ₹16,400 crore (US$1.9 billion) signals more than just a temporary market correction. D&P’s 2025 IPL–WPL Valuation Report, titled Beyond 22 Yards: The Power of Platforms, The Price of Regulation, attributes the downturn to two core structural disruptions: a government crackdown on real-money gaming (RMG) and a game-changing media rights merger.
RMG ban strips ₹2,000 crore (US$227.3 million) from cricket’s core
The abrupt prohibition on RMG advertising and sponsorship has created a massive commercial vacuum. According to Santosh N., Managing Partner at D&P Advisory, as quoted in the D&P Advisory 2025 IPL – WPL Valuation Report titled Beyond 22 Yards: The Price of Regulation, “Fantasy and gaming platforms had become the IPL’s most aggressive advertiser cohort, contributing ₹1,500–2,000 crore (approx. US$170.1 million – US$227.3 million) annually across league, franchise, and broadcaster deals.”
He continued, “The subsequent ban on real-money gaming (RMG) further constrained the monetisation outlook.”
This vacuum has left franchises scrambling. High-profile partnerships, like Dream11’s ₹358 crore (US$40.7 million) national jersey deal, have ended, and finding replacements in sectors like Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI), and Electric Vehicles (EVs) has proven challenging. Without RMG’s premium ad spending, even broadcasters are struggling to maintain previous Cost per Mille (CPM) levels.
Media consolidation ends the auction frenzy
Alongside the RMG exit, the media rights ecosystem has also undergone a significant transformation. In 2024, Disney Star and Viacom18 merged to form JioStar, placing both IPL’s television and digital rights under one roof.
This eliminated the competitive bidding wars that previously inflated media rights values. “In 2023, when we pegged the IPL’s valuation at $11.2 billion (US$10.5 billion at today’s rate), we had projected a 40–50% appreciation in media rights by 2027. That assumption was based on the presence of two formidable bidders and the possible entry of global tech companies into sports streaming,” said Santosh.
With major tech players now shifting focus away from sports streaming, the expected revenue leap never materialised. As a result, Santosh noted, “The IPL’s fundamentals remain strong. But while selling advertising inventory may not pose a challenge, the pricing environment will remain under pressure.”
WPL stabilises but isn’t immune to headwinds
The Women’s Premier League (WPL), while newer, hasn’t been spared. Its ecosystem value has declined to ₹1,275 crore (US$145 million) in 2025, down from ₹1,350 crore (US$153.4 million) in 2024 — a 5.6% drop. However, D&P calls this a phase of “consolidation, not contraction.”
“The WPL is still in a formative stage of its commercial evolution. That makes it more susceptible to macro and regulatory shocks compared to the IPL, which has already achieved a degree of maturity and pricing resilience,” Santosh explained.
Dream11’s three-season WPL sponsorship concluded in 2025, and with the RMG ban now law under the Promotion & Regulation of Online Gaming Act, BCCI faces mounting difficulty in securing replacements before the next season.
Fan engagement and digital viewership remain robust
Despite financial pressures, audience enthusiasm has remained strong. The 2025 IPL season reached over a billion cumulative viewers, with digital viewership surpassing television for the first time. JioStar reported 1.19 billion unique viewers, 55.2 million peak concurrent streams, and 514 billion minutes of watch time.
WPL too saw record interest. “The 2025 season, held in the February–March window, had already attracted strong brand interest before the gaming bill was passed later in the year,” Santosh shared.
Television ratings surged 150% year-on-year during the opening match, and digital engagement spiked 70%. Stadium attendance was robust across venues, with many matches witnessing near-full capacity crowds. According to Skyscanner data, travel linked to WPL fixtures also spiked, with Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Lucknow emerging as top-searched cities during key match windows.
A roadmap for sustainable growth
Looking ahead, the report suggests that future IPL and WPL growth will hinge less on explosive bidding and more on innovation and diversification. Santosh summed it up: “The challenge ahead is to replace volatile categories with more stable, diversified value streams, ensuring that India’s premier sports league continues to compound sustainably, even without auction fever or RMG-fueled spending.”
He added: “With auction-driven surges less likely, future valuations will depend on diversified sponsor bases — categories like auto, fintech 2.0, healthcare, esports as well as new monetisation models including subscription bundles, regional packages, commerce integrations, and entry of global tech players like Netflix, Amazon, Apple to restore competitive tension in rights auctions.”
A turning point for Indian cricket economics
As the IPL and WPL navigate this period of recalibration, the broader message from the report is clear: the era of unchecked growth may be over, but with strategic adaptation and innovation, cricket’s commercial engine in India is far from slowing down. What lies ahead is not a slowdown — but a shift toward smarter, more resilient monetisation.
