Lalit Modi says IPL audiences have shifted from television to digital platforms, calling the tournament a global multi-screen entertainment ecosystem. He argues streaming growth, mobile viewership, and rising digital engagement prove IPL 2026 continues expanding despite television rating concerns.
Lalit Modi has dismissed concerns surrounding declining television ratings for the Indian Premier League, arguing that the tournament has evolved far beyond a traditional television product into one of the world’s largest digital entertainment ecosystems.
Speaking in an exclusive interaction with IANS, the IPL founder said the ongoing debate around viewership decline is based on an outdated understanding of how modern sports audiences consume content. According to him, focusing only on linear television ratings ignores the dramatic transformation taking place across global sports broadcasting.
Modi stated that analysts measuring IPL success solely through television viewership are failing to recognize the tournament’s massive digital growth. He explained that the IPL today operates across multiple screens and platforms, including OTT streaming services, smartphones, tablets, and connected televisions.
“The mistake many analysts make is treating IPL like it’s still a pure television property. It is not. The IPL has turned into a multi-screen, multi-platform entertainment ecosystem,” Modi said.
He further compared the approach of measuring IPL only through television ratings to judging the internet through newspaper circulation figures. According to Modi, the issue is not that audiences are disappearing, but that viewing habits are rapidly evolving worldwide.
“The audience has not disappeared. The audience has migrated,” he said, emphasizing that sports fans are now consuming live events differently than they did a decade ago.
Modi argued that much of the recent criticism about IPL viewership relies heavily on Average Minute Audience data from traditional television broadcasts, which he believes represents only one section of the overall audience ecosystem.
“The headlines shouting ‘IPL viewership decline’ are quoting one metric: Average Minute Audience on linear television. That is just one part of the ecosystem,” he explained.
Highlighting the broader industry shift, Modi pointed out that audiences globally are increasingly moving from broadcast television to digital streaming services. He noted that families often watch matches simultaneously on multiple devices, while younger audiences prefer mobile streaming and connected TV experiences over traditional cable or satellite broadcasts.
“Viewers are moving from broadcast TV to OTT. Families are splitting their viewing across devices. Young audiences prefer mobile and connected TV. Advertisers are looking for measurable engagement, not just TV ratings,” Modi said.
According to Modi, the IPL’s cumulative audience across all platforms during the 2026 season has already crossed 1.06 billion viewers before the playoffs stage, which he described as proof of the league’s continuing expansion rather than decline.
“That is not a decline. That is an expansion,” he asserted.
The IPL founder also stressed that television can no longer remain the sole indicator of sporting success in the digital era. He said connected television viewership has shown remarkable growth, with concurrency rising by 61 percent year-on-year. At the same time, watch time during the tournament’s opening weekend reportedly increased by 26 percent.
“The audience did not leave IPL. They upgraded their screens,” Modi remarked.
Drawing comparisons with international sporting competitions, Modi stated that the IPL is following the same digital transformation experienced by major leagues such as the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and the Premier League, as well as global sporting spectacles like the Olympic Games.
“This is not unique to cricket. Traditional TV is fading while streaming grows, mobile attracts younger viewers, and connected TV becomes the main household screen,” he said.
However, Modi believes the IPL’s transformation has been even more dramatic because of India’s strong mobile-first digital infrastructure and rapidly growing internet penetration.
“No sporting league in the world—be it EPL, NBA, or NFL—has seen this kind of transition,” he stated, adding that India’s population advantage alone does not fully explain the scale of IPL engagement.
The former IPL chairman also discussed how advertising trends are changing alongside audience behavior. According to him, digital platforms now provide brands with significantly deeper consumer insights compared to traditional television advertising.
“Television can tell you a household watched. Digital can tell you who watched, how long, on what device, whether they interacted, and if they made a purchase. That is the future of advertising,” Modi explained.
He revealed that 125 new brands joined the IPL’s digital advertising ecosystem during the current season, while connected TV advertising prices have continued rising because of increasing demand from marketers.
Modi further claimed that total watch time across all IPL platforms is expected to exceed last year’s record-breaking figures. He argued that modern sports success should now be measured using broader digital metrics, including cumulative audience reach, engagement depth, watch time, advertiser demand, concurrency, and cross-platform influence.
“Projected combined watch time for IPL 2026: 850–900 billion minutes. That is extraordinary,” he said.
Modi also called for the creation of a standardized digital measurement framework for Indian sports broadcasting, similar to the television audience measurement system used by the Broadcast Audience Research Council.
“It’s time we have a proper measurement system like BARC for digital viewership. It’s overdue. Insights and a detailed understanding of audience profiles and viewing habits are essential,” he stated.
Summarizing his perspective on the league’s evolution, Modi described the IPL as much more than just a cricket tournament in 2026. According to him, the competition has grown into a real-time digital entertainment powerhouse with unmatched global engagement.
“It is a digital entertainment ecosystem, a mobile-first phenomenon, and one of the largest real-time engagement platforms in the world,” Modi said.
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Reiterating his central argument, Modi insisted that the IPL has not lost viewers despite debates over television ratings. Instead, he believes audiences have simply shifted toward newer technologies and digital viewing experiences.
“The measurement model changed. The audience behavior changed. The scale did not shrink. It expanded. The IPL did not lose its audience. The audience simply changed screens,” he concluded.
