Is BCCI thinking of expanding IPL beyond 10 franchises? Chairman Arun Dhumal drops massive hint

2 hours ago 20

Only ICC World Cups pip the Indian Premier League (IPL) in terms of craze, importance, heritage and eyeballs. Despite just being a 19-year-old commodity, IPL has become the second-most watched sporting tournament worldwide. It speaks volume. IPL franchises earned more than INR 1000 crore in revenue last year alone. The appeal of the league is on an upward curve right from the beginning.

You can grasp the attraction by knowing that the IPL 2026 opener between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) garnered over 426 million views on JioHotstar. To put things into perspective, it beat the viewership of 51 out of 55 T20 World Cup 2026 matches. The fans are crazy over the IPL and the BCCI knows it. The tournament is their biggest cash cow, and the board is now looking to expand it further.

Cricket

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BCCI sticks with 74-game format, IPL 2026 full schedule this week

Bigger IPL window first, new teams later

The idea of expansion is not new. It has been baked into the IPL’s current media rights cycle itself. When the BCCI sold the league’s broadcasting rights for ₹48,390 crore, the plan was to gradually increase the number of matches. The roadmap spoke of 74 matches in 2023 and 2024, 84 matches in 2025 and 2026, and eventually 94 matches by 2027.

That plan, however, has hit a pause. IPL 2026 continues to remain a 74-match tournament. The reasons are straightforward. The current ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP), which runs till April 2027, leaves very little breathing space. There is barely a window between mid-March and the end of May. The IPL, with 74-match strength, is running from March 28 to May 31. Team India has a jam-packed schedule that follows in 2026/27.

IPL chairman Arun Dhumal acknowledged exactly that in his interaction with the Financial Times. “For the IPL to move from 74 to 94, we really need a bigger window. Most of the international calendar is already spoken for. It is a limited window between mid-March and the end of May,” he said.

Not just this; there are various factors involved. Dhumal divulged that extending the period in June won’t work since the monsoon period approaches the southern part of the country. Also, if the BCCI would want to fit in more matches in a similar 2-month window, they would have to include more double-headers. But that will upset the broadcasters, since the afternoon games yield lesser viewership.

“As soon as June starts, the monsoon approaches the southern part of India, so there is no way you can extend at that point in time. If we try to go from 74 to 94 games in the current window, we will end up having more double-headers [when consecutive matches are played on the same day in the same stadium]. That does not work well for broadcasters. We have to look at their interests too. That is why we have restricted ourselves to 74 games.”

So while the intent to grow is very much there, the timing is not. At least not until the next FTP cycle from 2027 onwards.

12-team IPL? Dhumal keeps door open but sets clear condition

The more interesting question is not just about more matches but more teams. Could the IPL move beyond 10 franchises? Dhumal hasn’t shut that door. But he has made it clear that expansion will not come at the cost of quality or practicality.

Dhumal feels that cricket adapting to the ‘football way’ is inevitable. It won’t be too long when T20 leagues pack the entire year, with fewer bilaterals, and then you have the customary ICC events. The IPL originally had 8 teams from 2008 to 2021, with a brief expansion from 2011 to 2013. It wasn’t until 2022 that the league permanently added two new teams, Gujarat Titans (GT) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

“It depends on the window. There is a lot of investor interest, because the kind of return on investment the IPL has given is exceptional. But it would not happen unless we have a bigger window. The larger picture has to be how many bilaterals, how many International Cricket Council (ICC) events and what windows are available for these leagues. It is not only about the IPL.

“In case these leagues are to be held regularly, that is the new world order for cricket: fewer bilaterals, more league cricket, and in between you have ICC events, a bit like football.“

There is demand. There is money. There are investors ready. But without time, nothing moves. For now, the BCCI’s thinking is clear. Increase matches first, then think about adding teams. Because with ten teams, a full home-and-away format is yet to be realised consistently.

In the current framework, the IPL teams are divided into two groups and don’t play two games against all other nine franchises. Adding two more sides without expanding the window would only complicate scheduling further. The IPL’s existing window in the FTP is locked until 2027, running from mid-March to the end of May. Any expansion would thus coincide with the next media-rights cycle beginning in 2028.