The IPL (Indian Premier League) which is said to be the richest league tournament has witnessed its value deteriorate for the first time. According to recent reports, the Indian Premier League’s value has declined by 10.50%, from INR 92,320 crore to INR 82,860 crore, which means it has dropped from $11.4 billion to $9.6 billion.
Despite the league’s strong popularity it continues to attract audiences across satellite and digital platforms, a downturn of 11.7% is completely unexpected. This makes fans compare the business of WPL (Women’s Premier League) after its first season
What is the reason behind the Value Drop of IPL?
Mainly, India’s rich-cash league witnessed a massive drop ever since its inauguration in 2008 due to the varying value of media rights, one-sided domination from batters, and dependence on advertising and subscription. Let’s discuss these reasons in detail:
1. Changes in the Value of Media Rights – IPL:
For the first time, IPL has experienced a value drop, which is because of changes that happened in valuing media rights.
If we look at the earlier scenario in 2022, the BCCI (Board of Cricket Council in India) retained control regarding both the TV and Digital streaming rights for IPL editions from 2023 to 2027.
At present, the TV rights acquired by Disney Star and the digital rights by Viacom 18 together combine a massive value of INR 48,390 Crores.
With this move of BCCI, IPL rose to prominence, becoming the 2nd richest league regarding the monetary value per match. Also, it reduced the competition that used to exist for acquiring these rights.
Earlier, companies like Jio and Disney plus Hotstar used to intensely bid for digital rights, and that kept IPL’s value on a high streak. Whereas the combination of ZEE for TV and Sony for digital streaming, both resulted in a failed merger. It was expected to create a strong competitor to the earlier contenders like Jio and Disney, but the outcome came in contrast to it.
Moreover, the merging of these two biggies namely the Reliance-owned Network 18 and Disney-owned Star India has created complete control over TV and digital broadcasting rights.
Amidst these changes happening and tech giants like Amazon and Apple delaying their entry to acquire IPL media rights, the aggressiveness in bidding would reduce in future auctions.
In the future, the prices for IPL media rights could see a significant decline, which could affect the overall value of the league. Although IPL continues to be popular, these unexpectedly popping new challenges might impact its growth and future value.
2. Batters Domination over Bowlers:
In contrast to the previous editions, the IPL 2024 witnessed the top-quality bowlers getting thrashed by the newbies as well as the experienced batters. Most of the venues were specifically prepared as batting-friendly tracks so that viewers could enjoy the dynamic pace of the T20 game. However, any cricket fan wouldn’t love watching their favorite bowlers underperforming on unfavorable pitch conditions throughout the season, which resulted in a huge drop in the viewership rate.
Those were the golden days when IPL was an enjoyable moment for all fans due to these reasons:
- Fair contest between batters and bowlers.
- A total of 190–200 runs is considered a competitive total.
- No Impact player rule.
- Thrilling low-scoring encounters between both sides.
Comparing the previous season, the IPL 2024 recorded two teams scoring an aggregate of 500+ runs in the majority of games. Due to the less competitive nature of the tournament with batsmen overshadowing bowler’s abilities, viewers have gradually started to lose interest in the world’s most famous franchise cricket league.
3. WPL Business Value: An Improvement in Ecosystem Value from 2023 to 2024
You might be surprised to know that, in contrast to IPL’s previous two editions, the WPL ecosystem value has surged to INR 1,350 crores in 2024 from INR 1,250 crores in its inaugural season in 2023, thereby pointing out an 8.0% increase.
In terms of USD, there is a tremendous growth from $150 million to $160 million. This shows how the Women’s league has consistently offered a combination of joyfulness and thrilling nature in the sport of cricket, thereby enhancing the business and entertainment value. Also, millions of audiences were captivated across the world by both TV and digital platforms.
4. Depending on Advertising and Subscription:
Over the past few years, IPL has heavily relied on advertising and subscriptions, which could pose numerous challenges. Moreover, Santhosh N from D&P Advisory believes that only a few companies will join the bidding for broadcasting rights. As a result, broadcasters need to be more cautious with their offers since the overall revenue earned from the broadcasting right could be lowered.
The tech powerhouses such as Amazon, Meta, and Apple, which have earlier been involved with other sports leagues like NFL, NBA, and EPL, currently find it difficult and different the strategies by which sports are sold and marketed in India.
Suppose, let’s assume that these tech giants enter the IPL broadcasting business. In that case, it is guaranteed that the sports media in India will be revolutionized since they utilize the digital infrastructure to improve the viewing experience and push the boundaries to deliver high-quality content to viewers.