IPL Valuation Slides 20% on Media, Sponsorship Pressures

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has recorded one of its steepest valuation drops in recent years, with its total ecosystem value falling 20% to USD 9.6 billion in 2025, down from USD 12 billion in 2024, according to the latest data from Brand Finance. The decline signals growing pressure on what has long been considered India’s most resilient sporting property.Brand Finance attributes the dip largely to two immediate factors: ongoing geopolitical uncertainties affecting commercial confidence and concerns over the upcoming mega auction. With team compositions and longer-term revenue visibility still unclear, investors, sponsors, and franchise owners have adopted a more cautious stance.

This year’s drop builds on a downturn already flagged by earlier industry reports. Shifts within the media environment have weakened one of the IPL’s traditional revenue pillars  fierce broadcasting competition. Following major mergers in the media space, the bidding landscape for TV and digital rights has consolidated significantly, removing the intense rivalry that once drove aggressive pricing and valuation growth.A second major setback has come from the ban on real-money gaming (RMG) advertising, which eliminated a dominant sponsor category that had pumped substantial money into both central league revenues and individual team partnerships.

In October, the D&P IPL Valuation Report 2025 highlighted that the IPL ecosystem had declined for the second consecutive year, sliding from ?82,300 crore in 2023 to ?76,100 crore in 2025 , a 5.9% contraction over two years, translating into a cumulative erosion of nearly ?16,400 crore. The report described the downturn as “a reset for the league’s business model,” pointing to fundamental changes rather than short-term fluctuations.

According to the analysis, shrinking competition in media rights especially after consolidation under JioStar  has ended what was once dubbed “auction fever,” which previously inflated broadcast deals. Simultaneously, the sweeping ban on RMG sponsorship wiped out an estimated ?1,500–2,000 crore from the IPL ecosystem across broadcaster advertising, franchise sponsorships, and fan-engagement platforms.One of the most visible signs of sponsor withdrawal was Dream11’s ?350 crore exit from the national jersey sponsorship, symbolising a broader cooling of high-spend brand participation in the league.

Together, these developments are forcing the IPL to reassess its revenue strategies and long-term growth model. While the league remains commercially formidable, the coming seasons are now viewed as decisive determining whether the IPL can rebound with new revenue streams or whether it must adapt permanently to a leaner, more structurally constrained business environment.