The Indian Premier League (IPL), long considered India’s premier media and marketing powerhouse, has experienced a rare phase of reform. According to D&P Advisory’s 2025 report, the cash-rich tournament has seen its overall valuation decline for two consecutive years for the first time in its history.
Despite the recent decline in valuation, the IPL remains India’s biggest sports property. The 2025 season attracted over a billion viewers across television and digital platforms. Notably, digital viewership surpassed TV for the first time. JioStar reported 1.19 billion unique viewers and 55.2 million peak concurrent streams.
IPL valuations fall for the second consecutive year
According to D&P Advisory’s 2025 IPL-WPL valuation report titled “Beyond the 22 yards: The power of platforms, the price of regulation”, the IPL’s valuation has declined for the first time in its history for two consecutive years.
The league’s value is set to decline from ₹92,500 crore ($11.2 billion) in 2023 to ₹82,700 crore ($9.9 billion) in 2024 and ₹76,100 crore ($8.8 billion) in 2025.
The report said the ₹16,400 crore decline was a structural reset in India’s cricket economy, driven by a combination of media consolidation and the government’s ban on real-money gaming (RMG) sponsors, which affected the IPL’s previously rapid growth trajectory.
IPL fundamentals remain strong – Santosh N, Managing Partner, D&P Advisory
In 2024, Reliance Industries merged its media assets with Walt Disney’s India operations, forming JioStar following the Disney Star-Viacom18 merger. Both television and digital rights are now on the same platform, reducing competitive bidding for IPL broadcast and streaming rights.
India introduced the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which banned online real-money gaming (RMG) advertising and sponsorships, leading to an estimated ₹1,500–2,000 crore reduction in annual IPL sponsorship spend. Platforms like Dream11 were left out of big deals.
Santosh N of D&P Advisory said ad sales will remain viable, but pricing pressures are likely to continue, and the growth of media rights will continue at a slower, more moderate pace than in previous years.
“IPL fundamentals remain strong,” Santosh said. “But while there may be no challenge in selling advertising inventory, the pricing environment will remain under pressure.” He said that although media rights will continue to appreciate, the pace and magnitude of that growth will be less than anticipated.
RCB tops IPL 2025 franchise brand rankings, followed by MI and CSK
In 2025, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) topped the IPL brand rankings after winning their first IPL title. They were followed by Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Titans.
The report said Indian cricket is now entering a new phase where growth will depend less on large increases in media rights and more on stable income, strong sponsorship deals and active digital engagement.
In particular, the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has shown even greater stability. Its total value in 2025 was ₹1,275 crore ($148 million), slightly less than ₹1,350 crore ($160 million) in 2024.
Despite a slight decline in value, TV viewership increased by 150 per cent year-on-year, and digital engagement during the opening match increased by 70 per cent. For WPL this period is considered “consolidation, not contraction.”
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