IPL Media Rights Boom Ends? $5.4 Billion Plateau Expected for 2028–32 Cycle: MPA Report

The rapid rise in IPL media rights may slow down in the near future. A recent report by MPA reveals that there may be no significant appreciation in the value of the media rights for the upcoming cycle from 2028 to 2032.

The report, 'The IPL: Teams, Rights & Valuations', released on March 24, estimates the media rights value for the upcoming cycle from 2028 to 2032 to be the same as the current cycle from 2023 to 2027, valued at $5.4 billion.

However, there may be a decline in the valuation for individual matches by 13 percent, from $13.2 million to $11.5 million in the upcoming cycle. This is due to an increase in the number of matches from 74 to 94.

Lower Competition and Ad Revenue Pressures Impact Growth

One of the biggest reasons cited for the phenomenal surge earlier in IPL media rights value has been strong competition from rival broadcasters. In the 2022 media rights auction, Viacom18 and Disney locked horns to acquire the rights. While Viacom18 paid around $3 billion for digital rights, Disney paid $3.01 billion for television rights.

The intense bidding battle nearly tripled the previous deal value with Star India, which bought the rights for $2.55 billion in the 2018-22 cycle. However, competition is expected to be absent in the next auction cycle as the respective media rights entities are now part of a combined entity, JioHotstar. The company acquired all IPL media rights in the recent auction and, hence, will likely to not bid against themselves.

The report also pointed out that incumbent rights holders are facing losses to the tune of $1.8 to $2 billion. Advertising revenue growth has also been sluggish; while media rights grew 18% in the preceding cycle, they only increased by 7% in the last three seasons.

Factors such as increased regulation in sectors such as ed-tech and real-money gaming, and the ban on crypto advertisements by the BCCI, have also reduced advertising expenditure. Though new sectors such as AI will contribute in future,global economic pressures are expected to continue to temper demand.

Franchises Are Likely to Diversify

The report revealed that the media rights contribute over 75% of the total team earnings, in contrast to the 48% seen in 2017. While team profit margins have increased from 10% to 34% over the years, this also poses risks if the media rights value drops.

Non-media revenue sources, such as sponsorships, have grown by 22% year-on-year since the pandemic, although these forms of revenue have contributed significantly less to total revenue. Consequently, as media rights growth stalls, teams are now planning to sell equity and focus on future earnings.

Mihir Shah, vice president of India at MPA, said the rights reset in 2028 “marks the beginning of a period in which franchise value creation depends on building the non-media revenue base, focusing on sponsorship, international presence and digital monetisation.”

Franchise Rankings and Digital Growth

The report also published a ranking of the ten IPL franchises based on several parameters and points. Mumbai Indians leads the list with 360 out of 400 points, followed by Chennai Super Kings with 320 points.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru ranks fourth with 230 points. The team has a substantial fan base, largely due to Virat Kohli's following of 274 million, but falls short due to only one title and dependence on the player. Punjab Kings (90) and Lucknow Super Giants (100) are at the bottom of the rankings.

On the digital side, the IPL viewership is increasing. The final of the ICC T20 World Cup recently saw 70 million concurrent viewers on JioHotstar, and the same is expected for IPL 2026. However, as the report suggests, the increase in viewership is not reflecting in the profit as the gap between revenue and expenditure for media rights is still huge.