On Sunday 9th June, the Indian men’s cricket team beat Pakistan in front of 34,000 fans at a sold-out temporary venue in New York.

The stadium in Nassau County was built specifically for this year’s ICC T20 World Cup – engineered as the tournament was to leverage the excitement of the US South Asian diaspora to generate long-term interest in the sport.

Three American cities played host to 12 of the 55 matches in an event co-hosted with the more established cricketing market of the West Indies. And while the vitality of the American half of the draw has also been stirred by other communities – not to mention the on-field success of the USA – the financial impact of that one fixture was key to its viability.

Indian influence, in particular, has reshaped the economy of cricket along with its boundaries. The summer of 2024 will bring the second edition of Major League Cricket, a domestic franchise tournament played across the US that enjoys direct investment from owners of Indian Premier League (IPL) teams. Some of those investors are also active in leagues like the Caribbean Premier League, the SA20 in South Africa and the UAE’s DP World ILT20.

There is a widely held expectation that those competitions will aim to capitalise on a shift in emphasis from international cricket to club brands. Nevertheless, it is still the health of the IPL itself that explains the potential and distinctive characteristics of the sports industry on the subcontinent.

The dominance of the IPL

Back in July 2022, the IPL made international headlines when it landed $6.2 billion worth of domestic broadcast deals that were the second-most lucrative per game of any sports league in the world.

Disney secured linear pay-TV coverage for five years with Viacom18 taking the digital streaming package.

Media rights buyers are in a sense making a judgement about the future of their sports partners. In the IPL’s case, the bet is on substantial continued growth for both the league as well as the advertiser and consumer markets that surround it.

GSIQ analysis suggests that 17 seasons into its existence, the IPL is still a resilient, extremely popular and growing proposition. TV ratings have risen year on year since the tournament schedule was buffeted by Covid in 2020 and 2021, with the average minute audience growing back to 25.8 million over the same period.

 

The profile of the IPL audience in 2024 underlines the league’s near-universal relevance in its home territory. It splits almost evenly across those in A, B and CDE demographics, while it also splits 57.6% male and 42.4% female. There is a similarly equitable breakdown across different age brackets, particularly among those aged under 50.

Tellingly, there is evidence that the new broadcast rights arrangement – where linear and mobile streaming rights are held separately – has not led to any cannibalisation of the IPL audience. Instead, its media reach has grown considerably in 2024.

GSIQ has recorded a cumulative reach of 857 million for this year’s edition, with 464 million coming from TV and 393 million from Viacom18’s mobile distribution – along with a 208 million overlap between the two.

While some franchises pulled ahead in terms of their individual reach – most notably Chennai Super Kings with 358.9 million, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad with 317.6 million, and Delhi Capitals with 315.6 million – every team is able to address large, diverse audiences. That provides a considerable measure of security for Indian and global brands seeking to make an impact.

India’s international media influence

Strategically, investors may be looking to satellite leagues and franchises in establishing a long-term presence for cricket in markets like the USA. In the short-term, however, the popularity of star individuals could help them find some purchase.

This is where the composition of the Indian diaspora in North America will be of particular interest. According to US Census Bureau data, the Indian immigrant population grew 60% in the country between 2010 and 2022, rising from 1.78 million to 2.84 million. Including the second and third-generation cohorts, the Migration Policy Institute estimates the overall South Asian Indian-American population at 5.2 million. Over 70% of the first-generation South Asian population in the US holds a bachelor’s degree or higher – double the rate of the wider foreign-born population – while over 77% worked in management, business, science, and the arts.

Indian cricketers like Virat Kohli, with his 269 million Instagram followers, can comfortably reach as many US-based fans as most athletes in major league sports. For sponsors and rights holders in cricket and other sectors, this will be a crucial aspect to factor in as the market develops.

As the decade progresses, the dynamics of South Asian sport are taking on an ever-more international degree of importance.

Photo credit: Renderings by Populous