Bangladesh’s IPL ban to have negligible revenue & viewership impact: Experts

T Sports holds the official IPL broadcasting rights in Bangladesh until 2027 under a deal signed with Viacom18 in 2023 and are agreement-bound to pay a certain fee to BCCI, which they are unlikely renege on, said insiders.

FMCG majors like Dabur, HUL, Nestle, etc — which have a presence in Bangladesh that accounts for anywhere between 1% and 5% of their overall revenues — have streamlined operations already, and are not among IPL's big advertisers.

The Bangladesh government’s decision to ban the broadcast and streaming of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 in that country following the Mustafizur Rahman-BCCI row is unlikely to have a major impact on either the league’s revenues or viewership, say experts.

Data collated by Brand Finance shows that not more than 20% the region’s IPL viewership comes from that country. Advertisers such as Mahindra 4 wheelers, Flipkart, Godrej Appliances are the only ones that benefit from the IPL reaching Bangladesh customers.

What did Ajimon Francis say?

FMCG majors like Dabur, HUL, Nestle, etc — which have a presence in Bangladesh that accounts for anywhere between 1% and 5% of their overall revenues — have streamlined operations already, and are not among IPL’s big advertisers.
“Net net, our assessment is, less than 2% revenue impact on IPL if this ban goes ahead,” said Ajimon Francis, managing director, Brand Finance.

Number of Bangladeshi players in IPL

Only a handful of Bangladeshi players have ever played in the IPL, so while the country is as crazy about cricket as are Indians, the general interest in the league has been negligible, adds Santosh N, managing partner at D and P Advisory.
While seven Bangladesh players were included in the auction list for the current season, only Mustafizur Rahman was picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise.