196%, 2, $950m - the key numbers from a record-breaking IPL rights auction

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.).

113.35% - In Indian rupees, the winning bid for TV rights in the Indian subcontinent in this cycle (Disney Star's bid of INR 23,575 crore, or US $3.02 billion approx.) was 113.35% higher than the highest bid for TV rights from the previous cycle. In 2017, Sony had submitted the highest bid for TV rights in the subcontinent: INR 11,050 crore, or at the time US $1.72 billion. That Sony did not win the TV rights eventually was down to Star India submitting a consolidated bid across categories and markets to become the highest overall bidder.

$950m - The overall sum spent on digital rights for the Indian subcontinent this time was INR 23,758 crore (US$ 3.04 billion approx.). Viacom 18 bid INR 20,500 crore (US$ 2.62 billion approx) to win Package B (digital rights for Indian subcontinent), and also bagged Package C (digital rights in India only for a selection of high-profile matches) with a bid of INR 3,257.5 crore (US$ 417.20 million approx.). This combined figure to secure the digital rights in the subcontinent for a maximum of 410 matches, in INR terms, represents a rise of 45% from the overall bid (TV + digital at INR 16,347.5 crore) for the previous cycle comprising 300 games - the difference stands at INR 7,410 crore (or US$ 950 million approx.). If digital rights for the subcontinent from this cycle are compared with the highest bid for digital rights in the Indian market in the last cycle - INR 3,900 crore (at the time US$ 0.61 billion approx.) from Facebook, which, again, did not stand against Star India's consolidated bid - the digital rights in this cycle have seen a six-fold increase in value.

*As per Forbes
**As per the Athletic