Last Updated on 23 seconds ago by Charbel Coorey
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the biggest and most lucrative franchise cricket league in the world and sits among the biggest sporting leagues in the world, competing with the likes of NBA, NFL and MLB.
Despite this, recent numbers suggest that there has been a downfall in the TV ratings and viewership during the 19th edition of the IPL.
According to BARC India and TAM Sports, the TV rating, average viewership, and total reach in IPL 2026 have declined quite a bit compared to the last edition (IPL 2025).
The TV rating has gone down from 4.57 to 3.71; an 18.8% fall. The average viewership has also gone down by 26%, and the total reach is 113.61 million, which is 8.3% less than the 123.9 million in the last edition.
The total number of advertisers has also declined significantly. Earlier, there were 65+ advertisers, which has reduced by 31% to 45+. Only 24 new brands joined with 44 exiting.
All this is a concerning sign, and the BCCI and the IPL governing council will take a look at why this is happening to the biggest cricket league in the world.
Fans express their opinion on IPL’s drop in TV ratings and viewership
After the news broke out, fans shared their thoughts on why this is taking place. Some say that the tournament is boring as there’s no competition between bat and ball, while many suggest that the ban on fantasy cricket platforms like Dream11 and My11Circle has affected the tournament.
Here’s what the fans have to say on this:
Interestingly, the final of IPL 2025 broke the records with 169 million viewers, and it surpassed the India vs Pakistan 2021 T20 World Cup match. That edition had a total viewing time of 840 billion minutes, and the opening weekend of IPL 2025 exceeded 253 million views and 27.7 billion minutes of watch time.
