The IPL is the most-attended cricket league in the world and in 2014 was ranked sixth by average
attendance among all sports leagues. In 2010, the IPL became the first sporting event in the world
to be broadcast live on YouTube. The brand value of the IPL in 2019 was ₹47,500 crore
(US$6.2 billion), according to Duff & Phelps. According to BCCI, the 2015 IPL season contributed
₹1,150 crore (US$150 million) to the GDP of the Indian economy. The 2020 IPL season set a massive
viewership record with 31.57 million average impressions and with an overall consumption increase
of 23 per cent from the 2019 season.
There have been fifteen seasons of the IPL tournament. The current IPL title holder franchise is
Gujarat Titans, winning the 2022 season.
History; Background
The Indian Cricket League (ICL) was founded in 2007, with funding provided by Zee Entertainment
Enterprises. The ICL was not recognised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the
International Cricket Council (ICC) and the BCCI were not pleased with its committee members
joining the ICL executive board. To prevent players from joining the ICL, the BCCI increased the
prize money in their own domestic tournaments and also imposed lifetime bans on players joining
the ICL, which was considered a rebel league by the board.
