Brands
IPL franchises look beyond reach to monetise fan relationships
Study maps a Rs 45–50 crore annual upside from digital fan ecosystems
MUMBAI: After 18 seasons of relentless growth, the Indian Premier League has become one of the world’s most powerful sporting brands. Its franchises, however, are being told that reach alone is no longer enough.
A new analysis argues that the next phase of IPL franchise economics will be defined by how effectively teams convert broadcast audiences into long-term, owned fan relationships. The shift, it says, is from mass visibility to structured digital ecosystems that treat fandom as a compounding asset rather than a seasonal spike.
The central idea is simple: broadcast reach should be seen as the top of a longer value funnel. Digital engagement, in this model, is not a marketing afterthought but a system designed to turn anonymous viewers into known, monetisable users. Franchises that offer distinctive, personalised experiences can unlock direct revenues from fans and indirect gains through richer sponsorship propositions.
The study suggests that future media rights cycles will increasingly focus on yield per fan rather than raw viewership, reflecting a move from passive consumption to active participation. This places pressure on franchises to invest in digital infrastructure that goes beyond scale and focuses instead on repeatable outcomes: registrations, behavioural insight and personalised activation across platforms.
First-party fan data sits at the heart of this strategy. When identity, preferences, engagement history and transaction signals are unified and operationalised, franchises can segment audiences more precisely, improve retention and lift lifetime value. Without such a digital engine, fan monetisation remains episodic and hard to scale.
Done well, the report estimates, this approach could compound value of up to Rs 45 crore annually for a franchise over time, while also deepening long-term fan relationships.
The underlying opportunity, pegged at roughly Rs 50 crore a year, is broken into four levers: data-led sponsorship and advertising uplift (35 per cent, or Rs 16–18 crore); direct-to-fan commerce and experiences (30 per cent, or Rs 11–14 crore); memberships and recurring fan revenue (20 per cent, or Rs 7–9 crore); and efficiency gains that free up capital for reinvestment (15 per cent, or Rs 5–7 crore).
Actual outcomes will vary by market size, fan base and execution capability. But the direction is clear. The future economics of IPL franchises, the analysis concludes, will hinge less on how many fans they reach and more on how many relationships they own.
Brands
Dunkin’ Donuts to exit India as Jubilant FoodWorks ends 15-year franchise deal
The quick service restaurant giant is ending a 15-year franchise partnership with the American doughnut chain, even as it renews its Domino’s agreement for another 15 years
NOIDA: Dunkin’ is done in India. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the country’s leading quick service restaurant operator, has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with the American coffee and doughnut chain, and will wind down its Indian stores in a phased manner before December 31, 2026, bringing a 15-year partnership to a quiet, loss-laden close.
The decision, approved by JFL’s board on March 30, 2026, ends a relationship that began with a Multiple Unit Development Franchise Agreement signed on February 24, 2011. JFL will now evaluate and undertake what it described in a regulatory filing as the “rationalisation and/or cessation of certain operations and/or sale, transfer or disposal of assets and/or assignment or transfer of franchise rights,” all in consultation with Dunkin’s brand owners and strictly within the terms of the original agreement.
The numbers tell the story bluntly. In the financial year 2024-25, Dunkin’ India posted a revenue of Rs 37 crore against a loss of Rs 19 crore — a haemorrhage that was always going to test the patience of a parent company recording revenues of Rs 6,104 crore and a profit of Rs 194 crore in the same period. Doughnuts, it turns out, were never going to move the needle.
The contrast with JFL’s handling of its other marquee franchise could hardly be sharper. Even as it walks away from Dunkin’, the company has just doubled down on Domino’s, signing a fresh Master Franchise Agreement on March 31, 2026, granting it exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza stores in India for 15 years, with an option to renew for a further 10.
JFL, incorporated in 1995 and promoted by the Bharatia family, operates a network of more than 3,500 stores across six markets — India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Its portfolio includes Domino’s and Popeyes on the global side, and two home-grown brands: Hong’s Kitchen and COFFY, a café brand in Turkey.
For Dunkin’, India was always a stretch. The brand never quite cracked the cultural code in a market where filter coffee and chai command fierce loyalty and where the doughnut remains, at best, an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit. Fifteen years, mounting losses and a parent with better things to spend its capital on was always going to be a difficult equation to solve.
The doughnut has had its last day. The pizza, however, is staying.
