Kumar Mangalam Birla is regarded as a business leader who rarely lets sentiment override strategy. Yet, when a consortium led by the Aditya Birla Group in March acquired the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) franchise for a whopping Rs 16,600 crore, it marked a contrarian departure from Birla’s earlier sceptical view of the league’s value.
Beyond Cricket
His son, Aryaman Birla, now chairman of RCB, was quick to indicate last week that the IPL investment represents a strategic pivot for the group, riding on the league’s ability to touch people’s lives and influence consumption habits. It was an investment beyond cricket, he said, where the group would leverage the league’s popularity and viewership to push its consumer businesses—from retail to hospitality, real estate to paints.
With a record tournament reach of 1.19 billion viewers in 2025, Aryaman Birla is not off the mark in his assessment of the IPL being deeply embedded in India’s consumption story. But the group will not be the only conglomerate tapping into the IPL’s consumption pulse. The country’s most valuable company, Reliance Industries (RIL), and the $23-billion JSW Group—owners of Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals, respectively—are doing the same.
And so are, some high-profile groups, who are not team owners, but yet see immense value in associating with the IPL. This includes the salt-to-software Tata group, which has in the last few years driven mileage from its title sponsorship of IPL, pushing marketing initiatives across automotive, FMCG, durables and digital businesses. And the Godrej group which has leveraged the IPL over the years across business verticals.
RIL, which has owned MI since the IPL’s inaugural season in 2008, has used the platform to accelerate consumption of its products and services across telecom, media and FMCG. This includes pushing trial packs, offering bundled mobile and streaming plans, stitching up pouring rights with multiple teams to promote brands such as Campa and Sure, and driving stadium wi-fi initiatives and promotions. The JSW Group, too, has used the IPL for on-ground promotions of brands like JSW Cement, alongside television campaigns to build brand salience.
Valuation Resilience
“There is no platform that provides the kind of reach that the IPL does. And marketers from legacy business houses to new-age startups realise that the IPL can provide the best bang for their buck. This is playing out not only with some groups who are IPL team owners, but the engagement of non IPL team owners too, in terms of on-air, on-ground, digital sponsorships is on the rise,”Ajimon Francis, managing director, India, Brand Finance, which comes out with its annual IPL brand valuation report, said. While the 2025 Brand Finance report noted that the IPL’s brand value had declined by 20% year-on-year to $9.6 billion, driven by auction and team performance, it still said that the league remained resilience and could bounce back this year in terms of brand value.
WPP Media’s latest Sporting Nation report, released last week, underscores the trend. India’s sports economy crossed Rs 18,000 crore ($2 billion) in 2025 for the first time, driven largely by cricket and, notably, the IPL. The report adds that leagues such as the IPL have evolved into long-term brand-building platforms, where marketers prioritise engagement and storytelling to build recall and equity.
This is reflected in the breadth of advertisers associating with the IPL. In 2025, JioStar, the league’s television and digital broadcaster, said more than 425 brands—including 270 first-time advertisers across 40 categories—had partnered with it. According to media industry experts, this number is likely to rise further this year as newer segments, such as artificial intelligence-led businesses, join the IPL marketing bandwagon.
“Over the years, the IPL has helped create categories, from smartphones to e-commerce, digital currencies to now AI-led apps. Newer entrants to the IPL ecosystem may want to exploit this ability of the league to provide a captive audience,” Santosh Desai, CEO, Futurebrands, said.
The Aditya Birla Group, for its part, will be watching closely for such opportunities as its consumer businesses seek to expand their relevance and heft.