The Indian Premier League (IPL) has suffered a significant financial contraction following the nationwide prohibition on real-money gaming (RMG). Once hailed as cricket’s most lucrative brand, the tournament’s ecosystem value has dropped for the second consecutive year. As per a D&P Advisory report dated October 15, 2025, the IPL’s combined valuation now stands at $8.8 billion (₹76,100 crore) — down from $9.9 billion (₹82,700 crore) in 2024 and ₹92,500 crore in 2023. The 11% fall marks the steepest two-year decline in the league’s history. The report — Beyond 22 Yards: The Power of Platforms, The Price of Regulation — attributes the fall to two critical disruptions. The first, the Promotion & Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025, banned money-based gaming advertisements and sponsorships. This legislative intervention eliminated nearly ₹1,500–2,000 crore in annual sponsorship and ad revenue that once flowed from fantasy gaming platforms, key IPL advertisers for half a decade. Their abrupt disappearance left a visible void across team kits, digital inventories, and on-air advertising slots. Read also: IPL mini auction likely to be scheduled on mid December; big names in release queue Regulatory tightening and media consolidation compound decline The second major blow stemmed from the 2024 merger between Reliance Industries’ Viacom18 and Disney Star India, which reduced bidding rivalry during broadcast and digital rights tenders. The outcome: fewer competing bidders, lower valuations, and a stagnant ad market. Together, both events have shaved off ₹16,400 crore from the IPL ecosystem since 2023. Parallelly, the Women’s Premier League (WPL) too experienced a 5.6% slump, dropping to ₹1,275 crore, aggravated by Dream11’s exit and lingering uncertainty in the advertising landscape. Despite the contraction, D&P Advisory managing partner Santosh N stated that IPL’s fundamentals remain sound. The 2025 edition drew over a billion viewers, with digital audiences surpassing television for the first time. The WPL also posted 150% TV rating growth and 70% digital expansion, suggesting strong engagement despite sponsorship turbulence. Santosh remarked that future stability would depend on diversifying sponsors beyond gaming and reviving global streaming competition through partnerships with Netflix, Amazon, and Apple.