BRAND IPL ON A ROLL
THE robust appeal of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was once again highlighted this year after the world’s richest Twenty20 league escaped the economic aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic with only a few minor scratches.
The Indian cricket board’s (BCCI) league, which has an estimated brand value of $6.8 billion (£5.13bn), drew record TV and digital viewership. At least one of its franchises even grew its revenue despite the league being first postponed and then shifted to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following the coronavirus surge in India.
Cancelling the whole tournament would have left a $536 million (£404m) hole in the pocket for the world’s richest cricket board, which rarely shares financial numbers about the league.
So the IPL’s eight franchises were ushered into a bio-secure bubble in August to play 60 matches across three venues, all behind closed doors.
Mumbai Indians claimed a record fifth IPL title in last Tuesday’s (10) final, but it was a victory for Brand IPL too.
Starved of live cricket for nearly nine months, the world’s second most populous nation sat glued to their TVs, lapping up the action from the UAE.
Board secretary Jay Shah, quoting TV monitoring agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), said a record 200 million fans had watched the September 19 opener between Mumbai and Chennai Super Kings in Abu Dhabi.
In terms of viewership, the IPL even outperformed some of the pay-per-view matches of the Premier League in Britain.
BARC tweeted before the play-offs that the league had clocked seven billion viewing minutes, up 28 per cent from last year, after the first 41 games.
“With people staying indoors due to the pandemic and with lack of other entertainment options due to Covid-19, viewership numbers have been staggeringly high,” Santosh N, external advisor to financial consultancy firm Duff and Phelps, told reporters. “It showed why IPL is such a massive property not just in cricket, but in world sports in general.”
None of that looked vaguely possible in March when the 13th edition of the league was first postponed because of the pandemic. A new window sprang open rather unexpectedly when this year’s Twenty20 World Cup was postponed but the IPL lost title sponsor Vivo, who opted out amid a growing backlash against Chinese companies in India.
Fantasy gaming company Dream11 came on board, paying 50 per cent less for the privilege, but other sponsors also kept pouring money in.
The BCCI even landed, for the first time, a title sponsor exclusively for the Women’s T20 Challenge, traditionally a sideshow to the men’s competition.
Players were paid in full and among the franchises, runnersup Delhi Capitals said they had increased their 2019 revenues.
“This season, we’ve managed to secure associations with 18 partners, same as last year,” chief executive Dhiraj Malhotra said. “However, we’ve also been able to procure higher individual values for deals as compared to last season so that has increased our revenues.”
Santosh said the league has found the right mix of glamour and quality. “With the massive success IPL has seen this year, we can expect sponsorship to be back to pre-Covid levels for next season,” he said.