New Delhi: The brand value of the Indian Premier League (IPL) soared 19% to touch $ 6.3 billion in 2018 from $5.3 billion last year, on the back of renewed broadcast deal, a controversy free tournament and the presence of marquee players across franchises, according to a report by Duff & Phelps, a New York-based corporate finance advisory firm, released in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The fee for broadcasting right, which surged at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.9% and was won by Star India Pvt Ltd for $2.55 billion (Rs 16,347 crore), amplified the brand value of the tournament. Star India outbid rivals, including Sony Pictures Networks India, Facebook Inc and Bharti Airtel Ltd, in September last year to bag the IPL rights for five years.
Commentary in eight different languages across 17 channels helped in increasing viewership, the report said.
IPL 11’s total viewership was 1.4 billion impressions, a 15% rise from 1.2 billion in the previous year. Impressions refer to the number of individuals in thousands of a target audience who viewed an event, averaged across minutes. A total of 202 million viewers logged on to video-streaming platform, Hotstar, to watch IPL 11, a 55.3% increase from last year.
“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),” said Varun Gupta, managing director, Duff & Phelps and Asia-Pacific leader for valuation services. “The change in content consumption, influx of over-the-top (OTT) and digital viewing platforms and increased support from advertisers, broadcasters and sponsors gave the IPL greater significance in terms of brand value.”
Star India earned around Rs 2,000 crore in advertising revenues in 2018, a 54% jump from Sony’s Rs 1,300 crore in 2017, according to the report.
The Duff & Phelps report titled IPL Brand Valuation Report – 2018 ranked Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd’s team Mumbai Indians the highest in terms of brand value at $113 million among individual franchisees for the third year in a row. Kolkata Knight Riders ranked second with a brand value of $104 million. The two-year ban imposed on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals affected their brand values. However, CSK’s on-field performance and the MS Dhoni factor helped them neutralise the negative impact, and they were valued at $ 98.0 million alongside Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
“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.
Meanwhile, social media continued to be an important driver of brand value. The first week of the previous season of the IPL garnered 642,900 mentions on social media platforms, which went up to 855,400 in the first week of the 2018 season, and to 1.3 million after two weeks.