Indian Premier League On A Sticky Wicket Due To Sluggish Indian Economy Growth: Report

The Indian economy is currently undergoing sluggish times. In August, GDP data revealed that the growth rate was pulled down to five percent in the April-June quarter of 2019-20, which is a six-year low. The slowdown in the Indian economy has impacted the brand value of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well. According to a Duff & Phelps IPL Brand Valuation report 2019, the league witnessed stunted growth in 2019, registering a 13.5 percent growth. In 2018, the brand valuation had grown by 18.87 percent. The reasons cited by the report and quoted by Varun Gupta, the Managing Director, Asia Pacific Leader for Valuation Services are Indian rupee’s depreciating value and the conservative approach adopted by advertisers.

However, there is a silver lining in the dark cloud for the most prestigious Twenty20 league in the world. The league's overall valuation rose from 41800 crore in 2018 to 47500 crore in 2019. This has also impacted the brand values of the franchises in the league. 
In the comparison between 2018 and 2019, the best team when it came to IPL brand valuation was Chennai Super Kings, the three-time IPL champions captained by MS Dhoni. In 2018, in the first tournament ever since their two-year ban, Chennai Super Kings had a brand value of Rs 647 crores. In 2019, this has increased to 732 crores and it was a rise of 13.1 percent. Chennai Super Kings are the only franchise to register a double-digit growth in brand valuation. 

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The next best performing franchise was the Delhi Capitals, who changed their name for the 2019 edition of the tournament. In 2018, while still being Dehi Daredevils, their brand value was Rs 343 crores and that rose by 8.9 percent to Rs 374 crores in 2019. Mumbai Indians, the four-time IPL champions also registered a profit in their brand valuation by jumping from Rs 746 crores in 2018 to Rs 809 crore in 2019. Mumbai Indians have the highest brand value in the Indian Premier League among all the teams. 

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Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab have registered positive growths in their brand value but Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore have suffered a dip in their brand valuation. The franchise, who have never won the IPL and have finished at the bottom in two out of their last three editions, have had their brand value dip by eight percent. From Rs 647 crores in 2018, RCB registered a brand value growth of Rs 595 crores in 2019.

The biggest loser has been Kolkata Knight Riders, whose brand value saw a big dip of 8.3 percent in 2019. In 2018, their brand value was Rs 686 crore while in 2019, they had a value of just Rs 629 crore. Rajasthan Royals are the other franchise whose brand value suffered a loss, going down by 4.5 percent. Many people will be hoping that the Indian economy registers a turnaround in 2020 as the Indian Premier League becomes the testing ground for the Indian cricket team to try their talent pool for the World T20 which will be played in Australia.

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