Overview
| Valuation Methodology
This model asks one question: what is the intrinsic value of IPL today if the league and all ten franchises are valued together? We forecast the ecosystem's cash flows for IPL 20 (2027) through IPL 25 (2032), then add a terminal value for the years after 2032. Those cash flows are brought back to today using a discount rate i.e. the return a buyer would require given the risk. The headline figure updates as you change the assumptions on the next tab. The starting point is the base case: current media and sponsorship contracts, plus D&P Advisory's operating assumptions.
Franchise Enterprise Value measures the worth of the entire operating business, not just the brand value.
| Estimated IPL 2026 Composition
How to Read This Model
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Ecosystem / League Model
Assumptions
Broadcasting Rights – Per Match (2026)
What the current broadcaster pays per match in the current cycle. Rate is locked through IPL 2027. The slider is the step-up on the next cycle, from IPL 2028.
Title Sponsorship
League title-sponsor fee per season. Locked through IPL 2028. Slider applies from IPL 2029.
Associate Sponsorships (Partners)
All other official league partners, combined. Same lock and renewal as title.
Franchise Sponsorships
Franchise sponsors across all ten franchises, added up. Grows each season from the 2026 starting point.
Matches per Season
IPL 2026 and 2027 stay at 74 matches including playoffs. From IPL 2028, choose 74, 84 or 94 games (7, 8 or 9 respectively) — that moves total matches, broadcast income and tickets together.
Revenue from Sale of Tickets
Ticket money kept by the franchises after the stadium take. Grows each year, and also moves with match count from 2028.
Other Operating Revenue
Merchandise and other ancillary income across the league. Grows each season.
Entertainment Tax
Entertainment Tax is levied on gate receipt revenue earned by franchises. The IPL 2026 assumption is fixed at 40% of gate receipts; the base case assumes 40% for future seasons. An alternative of 18% is given as an option as the reduction reflects the expected GST treatment change whereby IPL may no longer be classified as a luxury entertainment activity.
Player & Coaching Costs
Player purses and support staff across all ten franchises. Grows each season from 2026.
Other Costs (SG&A)
Other Costs (SG&A), which represent the non-player operational overheads required to manage the league, are set as a % of ecosystem revenue (base case 15%). This unified ratio consolidates the dual running costs incurred across both the central and franchise levels of the tournament ecosystem. For individual franchises, these expenses include employee benefit expenses, stadium rent, insurance, travel expenses, hotel expenses, and event management costs. For the BCCI, the cost base covers central league management operations and tournament-wide travel, alongside administrative and other expenses for the BCCI.
Taxes
Tax is built into the base case because this is an ecosystem valuation, not a BCCI's accounting exercise. First, the IPL is valued here as one taxable business — league rights plus all ten franchises — so the cash flows a buyer would underwrite are after tax. Second, even BCCI now provisions for income tax in its own accounts while the exemption dispute continues in the courts; a zero-tax run therefore sits outside how the board itself is reporting. Third, the exemption BCCI claims as a sports body holds only if most of the surplus is spent back for the development of cricket or other sports in India — that surplus when spent back is not free cash a buyer can take out. It is therefore inconsistent and unreasonable to assume tax rate to be nil and then to assume that all the surplus is distributable cash flow. The slider lets you test the range: 0% (full exemption) through to 25.17% (the prevailing corporate rate — 22% base rate, plus a 10% surcharge and 4% cess, i.e. 22% × 1.1 × 1.04 = 25.168%, shown here to two decimals). The base case is 25.17%. Use 0% only if you want a pre-tax view, not as the primary case. The share of profits that the 10 franchisees make is anyways subject to maximum marginal corporate tax rate in India.
Discount Rate
The return a buyer would require given the risk of the ecosystem's cash flows. The base case is 14.0% per the WACC build-up.
Terminal Growth Rate
How fast cash flows are assumed to grow after 2032. This drives the terminal value beyond the forecast, not the next few seasons.
Income Statement for Ecosystem
Individual Franchise
- the franchise's share of the central pool — broadcast, title and partner rights, after the BCCI's cut; and
- its own commercial income — franchise sponsors, tickets and other local revenue.
Franchise Assumptions
Inherited from the League Model
Share of Central Revenue
Broadcast, title and partner money is split with BCCI. Base case: the franchise keeps 50% of its slice.
Franchise Fee to BCCI
Annual fee, as a % of the franchise's total revenue. Base case 20%, in line with a standard IPL franchise contract.
Other Costs (SG&A)
The franchise's share of the Other Costs (SG&A) base, as a % of franchise revenue (base case 20%). At franchise level these expenses include employee benefit expenses, stadium rent, insurance, travel expenses, hotel expenses, and event management costs. The BCCI's side of the same cost base — central league management operations, tournament-wide travel and administrative expenses — is carried on the League Model tab.
Discount Rate (Franchise)
Return a buyer would require for one franchise.
Terminal Growth Rate (Franchise)
How fast this franchise's cash flows are assumed to grow after 2032, independent of the League model's terminal growth rate. This drives the terminal value beyond the forecast, not the next few seasons.
