Sports
MPA sounds the alarm: the IPL’s $5.4bn rights party is over and the hangover starts in 2028
A new report finds the 2028-32 media rights cycle will flatline at $5.4bn, franchise losses are mounting and the merger that created JioHotstar has killed the competition that drove prices up
MUMBAI: The party lasted twenty years. Now comes the hangover. The Indian Premier League’s media rights, which grew six-fold since the first auction in 2008 to reach $5.4bn in the current 2023-27 cycle, are hitting a structural ceiling. The next rights auction, for the 2028-32 period, will fetch exactly the same number in total but deliver 13 per cent less per match, as an expanded 94-game format adds volume without adding value. Two decades of compounding growth, in short, are over.
That is the central finding of a report published on Monday by Media Partners Asia (MPA), entitled The IPL: Teams, Rights and Valuations. It is a forensic, and at times uncomfortable, read for anyone with money in the game.
The arithmetic of the current cycle is already painful. Rights holders are staring at cumulative losses of $1.8-2.0bn across the 2023-27 period. Total advertising revenue grew at just 7 per cent compound annual growth over the last three seasons, a sharp deceleration from the 18 per cent of the prior cycle. The culprits are familiar: policy-driven exits by ed-tech and real-money gaming companies, a BCCI ban on crypto advertising and a narrowed advertiser base that new sectors such as AI have not yet come close to replacing. Global macro headwinds are not helping either.
The structural story, though, runs deeper than a bad advertising cycle. The near-threefold jump in rights values seen at the 2023-27 auction was driven by fierce competition between Viacom18 and Disney. That competition no longer exists. The merger that created JioHotstar has eliminated the primary source of bidding tension, and with it, any realistic prospect of another auction war. MPA is blunt about what this means: the dynamic that supercharged rights values cannot be repeated.
“The IPL has created extraordinary value over two decades, but the conditions that drove that growth are now shifting in ways that are structurally consequential,” said Mihir Shah, vice president, India, at Media Partners Asia. “The rights reset in 2028 will not be a correction to be absorbed and forgotten. It marks the beginning of a period in which franchise value creation depends on building the non-media revenue base, focusing on sponsorship, international presence and digital monetisation.”
The warning to investors is pointed. Media rights now account for 75 per cent of total franchise revenues, up from 48 per cent in 2017. EBITDA margins have expanded from an average of 10 per cent in the first cycle to 34 per cent today, but that operating leverage, MPA notes, cuts both ways. When rights values correct, the pain is amplified. Non-media revenues are growing at 22 per cent compound annual growth since the pandemic, but from a low base that offers little cushion in the near term.
Against this backdrop, franchise owners are moving. Stake sales are accelerating, and MPA believes franchises are advancing liquidity plans precisely because they can see what is coming in 2028. Shah’s message to those pricing franchises at current multiples is direct: “Owners and investors who are pricing franchises today on current EBITDA multiples need to factor in both the rights cycle headwind and the concentration risk it implies. The window at current multiples may be shorter than the market assumes.”
MPA’s franchise scorecard, which assesses all ten IPL teams across championship wins, playoff appearances, social media following and international presence, places Mumbai Indians first with 360 out of 400 points and Chennai Super Kings second with 320. Royal Challengers Bengaluru ranks fourth, its enormous social media presence, anchored by Virat Kohli’s 274 million individual following, undermined by a single championship title across 18 seasons, no international franchise presence and dangerous dependence on one icon player. Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants prop up the table at 90 and 100 points respectively.
The digital picture adds a further layer of irony. JioHotstar recently broke 70 million concurrent users during the ICC T20 World Cup final. Audience scale has never been greater. Yet that scale has not translated into the monetisation needed to justify current rights pricing. The structural gap between what streaming costs and what streaming earns remains, MPA says, the single biggest constraint on 2028 valuations.
Seventy million people watching at once and the economics still do not work. That, more than any other number in the report, tells you everything about where the IPL’s next chapter is headed.
Sports
Bundesliga International strikes AIS deal as Sportel Singapore opens to deal-making frenzy
Three-year Thailand partnership expands reach while industry converges for two days of high-stakes networking
SINGAPORE: Sportel Singapore 2026 opened with a surge of energy, a packed ballroom setting the tone for two days of business and connection as the global sports media industry got down to work. From the opening moments, the exhibition floor was buzzing with back-to-back meetings, high-level networking and deal-making across every corner. Clients, partners and newcomers alike packed their schedules, turning the venue into a high-velocity marketplace from morning to evening. As day one wrapped, momentum was unmistakable, with expectations already building for an even bigger second day.
Amid that deal-heavy backdrop, Bundesliga International moved swiftly to lock in a key Asia-Pacific partnership, signing a three-year agreement with Thailand’s leading telecommunications provider AIS, starting from the 2026–27 season. The move underlines Thailand’s strategic importance for the Bundesliga’s international growth ambitions.
The agreement will see all nine Bundesliga matches per matchday streamed live on AIS PLAY, alongside marquee fixtures such as the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup, which opens the season between the Bundesliga champions and DFB-Pokal winners.
AIS, Thailand’s largest intelligent infrastructure company, already offers premium sports content including the NBA, PGA Tour and ATP Tour. The Bundesliga now joins that line-up as it looks to deepen engagement in a market where fans routinely defy time zones to follow live football.
“The Bundesliga has long been a home for Asian talent, from Witthaya Laohakul to current Thailand international Nicholas Mickelson and FC Bayern München newcomer Maycon Cardozo. Through our partnership with AIS, we’re bringing the excitement of the Bundesliga even closer to Thai fans — making it easier than ever to follow every match, wherever they are and whenever they want to watch,” said Peer Naubert, chief executive officer, Bundesliga International.
“Eight million fans in Thailand follow the Bundesliga, and more than half stay up to watch the matches live despite the time difference. That passion is incredible. Together with AIS, we want to make sure Thai fans never miss a moment of Football As It’s Meant To Be,” Naubert added.
For AIS, the partnership is a strategic play to elevate the domestic sports ecosystem. “The Bundesliga is recognised as one of the top five leagues in Europe. We recognise the Bundesliga is defined by its unique DNA: fast-paced, aggressive attacking football paired with the intense passion of the fans. This aligns with our vision of elevating the national sports scene to foster tangible growth in Thai sports. Therefore, we are moving forward to join hands and work together strategically with Bundesliga International in a full-scale manner,” said Pratthana Leelapanang, chief executive officer, AIS.
The collaboration goes beyond streaming. Both sides will roll out joint marketing and promotional initiatives while strengthening grassroots development. The partnership builds on the Bundesliga’s 2023 memorandum of understanding with the Sports Authority of Thailand, aimed at creating pathways for young Thai players into German football.
At the centre of that effort is the Bundesliga Dream project, an Asia-wide initiative offering young players the chance to train at top German club academies. Bundesliga Dream Thailand, now heading into its fourth edition later this year, has emerged as one of the programme’s most consistent and successful chapters, already helping players move along the professional pathway.
The Bundesliga’s ties with Asia run deep, with more Asian players featuring in Germany’s top flight over the past two decades than in the other top five European leagues combined. It also remains the most active league on the ground in the region, working with partners and governments on initiatives such as Bundesliga Common Ground to grow the sport locally.
Back in Singapore, as conversations stretch late and deals move from pitch to paper, the message is clear: the sports business is not just gathering, it is accelerating. Those closing fastest today are shaping tomorrow’s scoreboard.
