Jose Sanchez
Research expert covering society, economy, & politics for Latin America
Indian Premier League - statistics & facts
Ten teams, 74 matches, and over six billion Indian rupees in revenue in its 18th season– that’s the 2025 Indian Premier League in a gist. The professional Twenty20 cricket tournament is conducted annually across India, played between March and May. 18 years in the making, Royal Challengers Bangalore were crowned champions for the first time after beating Punjab Kings by six runs in the final match.
Winning its third title since the IPL started in 2008, KKR beat Sunrisers Hyderabad. Like every passing season, this one did not fail to shatter previous viewership records – with digital platforms growing significantly compared to television. Viacom18 owned JioCinema, the official streaming platform expanded its coverage to include regional language feeds among others, bringing in over 1,000 advertisers.
Television advertising saw a significant increase in the number of brands and categories over the years. This increase was proportionate to the rise in viewership. The tournament was described as a lucrative business opportunity, symbiotically contributing to the success of the T20 franchise cricket format and brands associated with it. This Twenty20 league’s success propelled women’s cricket in the country with the launch of the Women’s Premier League in 2023.
DLF started the league as its title sponsor for the first five years at two billion rupees, followed by Pepsi. Following the match-fixing scandal in 2013, Chinese phone maker Vivo replaced the beverage giant to clinch title sponsorship from 2016. In 2020, Vivo’s contract was suspended due to Indo-China tensions and Dream 11, an Indian fantasy sports platform, acquired the title at 2.22 billion rupees that year. With Vivo keen to transfer title rights to another bidder in 2022 after sustaining heavy public backlash, the Tata Group agreed to pay about 6.7 billion rupees for the next two years. As one of the largest and most reliable businesses worldwide, the conglomerate looks to promote the sport across political borders.
The most successful Twenty20 cricket league
The teams in the league represent different regions and cities, and are organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Every season kicks off with auctions among its various team franchises and bidding across the board for domestic and international players.Winning its third title since the IPL started in 2008, KKR beat Sunrisers Hyderabad. Like every passing season, this one did not fail to shatter previous viewership records – with digital platforms growing significantly compared to television. Viacom18 owned JioCinema, the official streaming platform expanded its coverage to include regional language feeds among others, bringing in over 1,000 advertisers.
A win-win for advertisers and viewers alike
Viewership for the league, and sports in general, plays a huge role in the success of advertising and driving consumer sales. This is bolstered by the frenzy of supporting favorites and rooting for specific players that can only be compared to the Superbowl in the United States.Television advertising saw a significant increase in the number of brands and categories over the years. This increase was proportionate to the rise in viewership. The tournament was described as a lucrative business opportunity, symbiotically contributing to the success of the T20 franchise cricket format and brands associated with it. This Twenty20 league’s success propelled women’s cricket in the country with the launch of the Women’s Premier League in 2023.
Success by association and sponsorship
Despite its many controversies over the years, the IPL was most definitely a brand worth being associated with. Sponsorship drives one of the largest parts of its income, followed by broadcasting rights and ticket sales. The league was broadcast by Disney+ Hotstar until 2022. After a record-breaking bid, Viacom 18 bought streaming rights for the period between 2023 and 2027. Disney owned Star India retained the TV broadcast contract. The broadcast rights during that time valued each IPL match sold for about 7.4 million dollars on television and 6.4 million dollars for streaming.DLF started the league as its title sponsor for the first five years at two billion rupees, followed by Pepsi. Following the match-fixing scandal in 2013, Chinese phone maker Vivo replaced the beverage giant to clinch title sponsorship from 2016. In 2020, Vivo’s contract was suspended due to Indo-China tensions and Dream 11, an Indian fantasy sports platform, acquired the title at 2.22 billion rupees that year. With Vivo keen to transfer title rights to another bidder in 2022 after sustaining heavy public backlash, the Tata Group agreed to pay about 6.7 billion rupees for the next two years. As one of the largest and most reliable businesses worldwide, the conglomerate looks to promote the sport across political borders.
