How Sustainable is the Strategy of the Indian Premier League - IPL? A Critical Review of 10 Key Issues that Impact the IPL Strategy

The Indian Premier League - IPL launched in 2008 has achieved a very high level of popularity with more than 140 million TV audiences and a brand valuation of more than 4 billion USD. The high publicity and glamour filled, franchisee owned cricketing event has also seen unprecedented money paid as franchisee fees, players fees and through advertisement revenue along with scandals of match fixing. The business model needs appreciation for integrating a number of complex processes such as entertainment, glamour, marketing, pricing and hard-hitting cricket. However, the recent couple of seasons indicate a decreasing trend in TV Ratings, reduced audience, fall in advertising rates and a withdrawal of franchises. This paper conducts a detailed analysis of the IPL case and examines 10 key issues that threaten the viability of the IPL strategy, the revenue model and if the event can sustain itself. The results indicate that the very high cost burden for franchisee owners means that they undergo losses making their ventures unprofitable. Thus, there is a danger that the event would be forced to shut down or forced to radically alter its avatar. The paper provides some strategic recommendations to overcome these issues and ensure that rational cost structures and expenditures are implemented to make the event viable