Report: IPL 2018 Brand Value Rises By A Billion To US$6.3B

The latest findings by the global valuation and financial services firm Duff & Phelps have been revealed in the IPL Brand Valuation Report 2018. The overall brand value of the world’s richest T20 cricket tournament has seen a hike from US$5.3 billion in 2017 to US$6.3 billion in 2018.

The rise has been largely attributed to a five-year media rights deal worth a whopping US$2.55b with Star India, a scandal-free 2018 season and marquee players adding added value across all the teams.

Star India—which has taken over Sony’s ten-year mantle on IPL broadcast rights—has also expanded its reach across the country with live broadcast in eight different languages across 17 channels form the GEC and sports cluster for the final. The earlier matches were broadcast live in six languages across 12 channels.

Overall viewership of the tournament across all platforms TV (In-Home & Out-of-Home) and Digital in Urban + Rural Audiences was recorded at 11.3b gross impressions, which according to Star Sports is 29% higher than the comparable number of matches last year.

IPL 2018 clocked TV viewership at 9.985b gross impressions and 19% growth from the last edition when the IPL was aired on Sony. Digital viewership at 1.3 b gross impressions was 3.5 times from last year.

Star’s OTT platform Hotstar scored a world record with this season’s final showdown between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad reaching 10.5 million in concurrent viewership – a world record on a digital platform for any sports. A total of 202m viewers accessed Hotstar, to watch IPL 2018, a 55.3% increase from last year.

The emergence of online sports consumption in India was another reason why the likes of Facebook were keen to acquire digital rights for the IPL.

Varun Gupta, Managing Director, Duff & Phelps and Asia Pacific Leader for Valuation Services, said,  “Star India’s broadcasting rights deal was a game changer that put IPL on par with some of the biggest sporting leagues in the world (on a fee per match basis).”

“The change in content consumption, influx of over-the-top (OTT) and digital viewing platforms and increased support from advertisers, broadcasters and sponsors have given the IPL greater significance in terms of brand value.”

Social media also continues to propel brand value. The first week of the previous season of IPL garnered almost 650k mentions on social media platforms. That has gone up to 855k in the first week of the 2018 season and to 1.3m after two weeks.

When it comes to the teams, the Reliance-owned Mumbai Indians, with a brand value of US$113m, continue to top the charts for the third season in a row. Kolkata Knight Riders sit in second spot with a brand value of US$104m.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals that came after a 2-year suspension had an impact on their brand values during the hiatus. However, CSK’s on-field performance coupled by the Dhoni factor helped them to neutralise the negative impact as they were valued at US$98m alongside Royal Challengers Bangalore. Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals follow in the brand rankings.

“There is a clear gap between the top four franchises. Good performance, presence of marquee players and smart marketing helped the top teams,” said Santosh N, managing director, Duff & Phelps.

“Our IPL brand values report reflects the evolution of the modern cricket business paradigm with clubs benefiting from not only the enduring popularity of cricket in India but also from strong marketing and globalization of the game. However, for growth trajectories to maintain their momentum, all teams need to continue broadening their footprint, forming relationships and generating revenue opportunities in growth markets.”

“Ultimately, however, much of cricket’s future depends on ensuring the product is of a sufficiently high quality to continue attracting viewers, sponsors and broadcasters, this has become a vital component for the game’s financial health.”