Hope for bigger IPL window in next ICC cycle from 2027: Arun Dhumal

DHARAMSALA: IPL chairman Arun Dhumal was a busy man overseeing preparations at the HPCA Stadium here on the eve of the match between Punjab Kings and RCB. In a chat with TOI, he spoke about controversies, relationship with the Bangladesh board after the Mustafizur Rahman fiasco, IPL’s Valuation, Expansion and WPL. excerpts… The IPL has faced several off-field controversies this year… There have been several cases. According to the rules, whatever strict enforcement the BCCI could have done, appropriate action has already been taken by the relevant persons – be it the ACSU or the match referees. We are very firm about the integrity of the game. There was more hype in the media. The game is very clean. Guys know how to behave and what to do. Whenever there was any instance of something happening unintentionally, it was dealt with very strongly. Mustafizur Rahman’s ouster from the IPL has hit a major crisis ahead of the T20 World Cup. Where are we now on Bangladeshi players in IPL? It’s a dynamic situation. BCCI would like to maintain the best relations with all the cricket boards. Maintaining interest in the game is our top priority. I would not like to comment on what happened. Whatever happened is in the past. Going forward, I see us maintaining very good relations with all the cricket boards. There has been talk of IPL fatigue this year and TRPs going down…. The data speaks for itself. In the JioStar report that came out recently, you can see what kind of attraction there is this year as well. It was phenomenal. Digital reach grew by 15% and TV reach by 25%. The viewing time in regional languages ​​has increased by about 42% compared to last season. In between was the odd day off. IPL has already crossed 1.1 billion views. Based on the feedback alone, I can say that it has been a phenomenal season and it will continue. There has been talk of increasing the number of matches for a few years now… The number of matches can go up to 94 if we have to play nine home and nine away matches with a 10-team structure. But unfortunately, given the bilateral commitments we have until 2027, there is no window or scope in which we can increase the number of games. The intention was to gradually increase it from 74 to 84 and then to 94. But because we are bound by so many events and bilateral events, it was not possible in this bilateral cycle. Hopefully, when the next bilateral cycle is scheduled, if we get a bigger window, we can consider increasing the number of games.

File Pic: Virat Kohli celebrates with the IPL trophy after RCB won the title in 2025. (IANS Photo)

Does it help with IPL franchises and Indian owners spreading their wings in other leagues? Are we going the football way? It all depends on how much the bilateral relations would gain in the coming cycle. Not only for BCCI but also for other boards. It’s always the fan who controls the game. It all depends on who funds the game. If they find more value in leagues than bilaterals, then that shift would happen on its own. It’s not my choice or anyone else’s. Thanks to this, the fans have more traction. This has happened over the years. Our franchises are also finding value. That’s why we invest in this kind of thing in other leagues as well. Is this a good sign for IPL? One has to fund the game. If you look at other boards, they prefer bilateral series with India. India has been keeping this commitment despite the challenges of Covid for so many years. India can only commit to one or two bilateral engagements during a four-year cycle. India cannot go everywhere every year. If they are only dependent on India for revenue and don’t find that value with other bilaterals, they can of course monetize their game to play cricket with the country. In a way, India like BCCI would like to create this value for them in bilateral contracts. If not, our franchises do so by becoming part of their leagues. Because it’s not like only 2-3 countries can run cricket all over the world. If the game is to grow, we need to have good value for each land. As long as it’s happening through these leagues and our franchises are contributing there, I’m happy with it. There are concerns over the valuation of media rights next year after the merger of Jio and Hotstar… Just look at the valuations we had for Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru where there was a request to sell stakes and new buyers coming in. If there were concerns about the valuation of the next media rights cycle, you wouldn’t get the valuation that was predicted or awarded to both teams. I really hope that when we have a media rights cycle for the next five years, it will be much better than what we have so far. It could definitely go higher, I’m very sure. There are reports that IPL’s market capitalization has gone down. How do you define IPL awards? Infinite. Now you can compare the valuation with the original value in 2008. It has grown about 20x in the last 18 years. Can you name any business or enterprise that has given you such a return? IPL is the number 1 brand in India. Now came the bigger conglomerates like Mittals and Birlas. IPL is a commercial enterprise. Anyone who finds value in it, you’d want a piece of it. Will we see more teams in the WPL soon? It all depends on the number of players available at home and from overseas. You can think about the number of teams accordingly. But after winning the World Cup, when the team was led by Harmanpreet Kaur, you saw the kind of move that happened with the WPL. If you go to a WPL game, you can’t really tell if it’s a men’s game or a women’s game. It was a transformative moment for women’s cricket in India and globally. Currently, the WPL is played at two to three venues. Will there be a home and away format in the WPL? With only five teams, it can be a tricky situation. In addition to the number of ICC actions, there are a number of bilateral commitments. The window we have for women’s cricket is very short. So logistically it’s a challenge to have both indoors and outdoors. But we’ll see, in case it adds more value to WPL, we can do it in the future. Could you talk about some of the franchises that split their home games between two venues? It is as per BCCI policy to spread the game across the length and breadth. The BCCI only wanted them to occupy one more spot next to their home ground. They’ve been doing it for a long time. Punjab Kings have been playing IPL games in Dharamshala since 2010. Similarly, RCB had several games in Raipur this year and they had a phenomenal experience. Like Rajasthan Royals, they had Guwahati as their next home ground and they are very happy about it. It helps franchises generate more money per gate. Is there a plan to make this consistent across franchises so you don’t end up with some playing all seven home games in one place and others commuting between cities? Name the team that will win all seven games at home. It doesn’t matter. They have to play and give their best under all conditions and it’s not like BCCI is forcing anyone. They want to go out and play the game to grow their fan base as well.