196%, 2, $950m - the key numbers from a record-breaking IPL rights auction
A mind-boggling surge in the value of digital rights included
Nagraj Gollapudi
14-Jun-2022
The IPL's new media-rights deals, running from 2023 to 2027 and aggregating INR 48,390.5 crore (US$ 6.2 billion approx.), add up to a new record in cricket and also put the game in the top tier of global sport. Here are some standout numbers coming out of the BCCI's rights auction.
196% - That's how much the overall value of the IPL media rights has skyrocketed compared to the previous cycle (2018-22), when talking in India rupees. In 2017, Star India had bought the consolidated IPL media rights (that is, TV and digital) for INR 16,347.5 crore for a set of 300 matches (60 per season, for five seasons). This time around, the overall value is INR 48,390.5 crore for 410 matches, which is 2.96 times or 196% higher than the previous cycle. In US dollar terms, the hike is 143%, from $2.55 billion to $6.2 billion.
No. 2 - In terms of per-match value, the IPL is now only behind American football's National Football League (NFL) and ahead of English football's Premier League. Each NFL match is worth US$ 35.07 million* (based on the ten-year rights deal signed in 2022), while the value of a Premier League match as per the rights deal signed in 2022-25 is US$ 11.34 million**. Based on the overall value of INR 48,390.5 crore for a maximum of 410 matches in the next cycle, each IPL game is worth INR 118.02 crore (US$ 15.11 million approx.).
1.96 - An IPL match, based on media rights, is now worth nearly double (1.96 times) that of an India home game. The average value of each India home game - as per a five-year deal bagged by Star India, in 2018, worth INR 6,138 crore (at the time US$ 944 million) - is INR 60 crore, while an IPL game now costs INR 118.02 crore ($15.11 million approx.).