Today we are breaking down the world’s fastest-growing sports league, The Indian Premier League. The Indian Premier League, often shortened to IPL, is a cricket competition that takes place in India every year between the end of March and end of May. There are 10 teams, 74 matches, and the competition starts and ends within 2 months. 

The biggest sports leagues tend to come with long histories. You can trace the NFL back to 1920, the NBA to 1946, and Formula 1 to 1950. In stark contrast, the IPL and its teams were founded in 2008. But despite its relative youth, the IPL is already a sporting giant. It has revolutionized the game of cricket and is the second biggest sports league in the world if you measure it on a per-game basis.

To break down the story and business, I’m joined by Ed Cowan. Ed played professional cricket for Australia in the early 2010s and is now an investor at TDM Growth Partners. Please enjoy this breakdown of the Indian Premier League.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. 

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Show Notes

(00:03:05) - [First question] - An overview of the Indian Premier League (IPL) today

(00:07:41) - How cricket fits in the context of Indian culture and markets

(00:11:06) - The mechanics of T20 cricket and its history

(00:19:33) - The genesis of the IPL

(00:21:42) - How the original eight teams were sold by the league and seeded by investors

(00:24:44) - The IPL’s conception and the rockier aspects of its startup phase

(00:30:13) - The revenue structure and business model broken down into their many streams

(00:33:44) - How Indian culture influences media deals in cricket

(00:41:55) - How operators have structured the IPL to optimize for media rights 

(00:44:53) - More on league-level economics, costs, and IP monetization 

(00:47:22) - Dynamics of individual franchises within the league

(00:55:19) - The infrastructure model and overhead costs for individual franchises

(00:59:03) - A deep dive into the player auction and how it works

(01:07:48) - Fanbase demographics and the importance of female representation in the IPL

(01:12:38) - How IPL creates and leverages scarcity value

(01:17:26) - The increasing international reach of the IPL draft

(01:19:32) - How the BBL in Australia stacks up against the IPL

(01:25:18) - Premortem case for the IPL

(01:28:22) - Why he thinks cricket and the IPL won’t be disrupted any time soon

(01:31:59) - Lessons for operators and investors when studying the IPL story