BCCI Secretary Jay Shah was asked if the IPL will have more than 10 franchises in the near future. The reason behind the question was the massive IPL media rights deal which happened earlier this month. The BCCI is set to earn more than 100 crore per match from the telecast and live streaming deal.
Three different broadcasters won the IPL media rights. Star Sports retained the rights for telecasting the Indian Premier League games in India from the year 2023 to 2027. Disney+ Hotstar will no longer be the platform to live stream IPL matches as Viacom18 beat them in the bidding war.
Viacom18 also won the Package C in the bidding war, which was a non-exclusive deal to live stream around 18 matches of the league. The Package D was for the overseas rights. Viacom18 and Times Internet emerged victorious in that category.
Jay Shah has confirmed that IPL will be a 10-team tournament for now
IPL 2021 featured eight teams. Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants joined the league before the 2022 season. Both franchises made an instant impact. GT made history by winning the championship, while LSG qualified for the playoffs.
In an interview with Cricbuzz, Jay Shah was asked if the BCCI is thinking to add more teams because of the IPL media rights deal. The BCCI Secretary replied:
“We have just had two new teams coming into the IPL fold and both were amazing. Gujarat Titans won the title, Lucknow Super Giants made it to the playoffs. It was a tight contest to get to the playoffs. Expansion of IPL in terms of teams depends on many factors and for now, the league will continue to have 10 teams.”
IPL 2022 concluded last month, and the action has now shifted to the international arena. India will travel to Ireland this week and play two T20Is against the home team.
