Beyond the IPL lies almost every state's hunt for its own cricket gold mine

When Shivam Dube walked into the inaugural T20 Mumbai League in 2018, he was another hard-hitting domestic cricketer trying to get noticed. One over, in which he smashed five sixes, changed everything. The innings catapulted him into the IPL, eventually earned him an India cap and became one of the earliest examples of how a regional T20 league could change a career almost overnight.

Today, nearly every state association in India wants its own Shivam Dube story.

Almost two decades after the Indian Premier League (IPL) transformed cricket into India's biggest sports business, another ecosystem is quietly taking shape beneath it. Across the country, state associations are turning regional T20 competitions into franchise-led sporting properties designed to achieve two objectives simultaneously: produce the next generation of IPL stars while creating commercially viable businesses through sponsorships, media rights, ticket sales and local fan engagement.


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The opportunity has grown alongside the IPL itself. According to Houlihan Lokey's 2025 IPL Valuation Study, the league's enterprise value climbed to $18.5 billion, while its standalone brand value rose to $3.9 billion. The report estimates that advertising revenues crossed $600 million during the season, while in 2024, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) generated ₹1,485 crore from associate sponsorship rights alone.

As the IPL's commercial footprint expands, state associations increasingly believe there is room for another cricket economy—one built on regional identity rather than national franchises.

"Our job is not to compete with the IPL," says Rajdip Gupta, Chairman of the Governing Council of the T20 Mumbai League. "Our job is to create the next layer of cricket economy below IPL."

Today, nearly every major cricketing state has embraced the franchise model. Alongside pioneers such as the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), competitions including the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20, Maharashtra Premier League, T20 Mumbai League, Delhi Premier League, UP T20 League and Andhra Premier League have expanded India's cricket calendar well beyond the IPL season, creating year-round opportunities for players, broadcasters and brands.

Mumbai offers a blueprint

If one regional league offers a glimpse of what a commercially sustainable state competition can become, it is Mumbai.

More than 32,000 spectators packed Wankhede Stadium for this year's final, while nearly 22,000 attended a Friday evening league fixture featuring India's T20 stars. League officials say the tournament generated more than ₹1 crore in ticket revenue.

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For administrators, those figures represent more than healthy gate collections—they demonstrate that fans are willing to pay for regional cricket.

"The business model of a regional T20 league today is no longer just staging a cricket event," Gupta says. "It's a full entertainment property now."

According to him, the business now rests on five pillars: franchise fees, sponsorships and commercial partnerships, ticketing and hospitality, media and digital rights, and merchandising backed by fan engagement.

"For T20 Mumbai League, the biggest shift is that the league is now moving from being just an association-led cricketing event to a serious commercial property."

The league's audience is also growing rapidly beyond the stadium.

As per a source, T20 Mumbai League recorded a cumulative viewership of more than 600 million across its men's and inaugural women's competitions this year, highlighting how regional franchise cricket is beginning to attract audiences at a national scale.

For him, the real indicators of success go beyond revenues. "The fan is willing to buy ticket—yes or no? Whether the sponsors are renewing the next year. Whether broadcasters see value. Whether players see this as a career-changing platform," Gupta said.

Andhra is investing before monetising

Nearly 1,200 kilometres away, the Andhra Premier League is following a different blueprint.

Unlike Mumbai, Andhra does not yet have a deep pipeline of IPL stars capable of attracting broadcasters, sponsors and spectators on reputation alone. Instead, the Andhra Cricket Association is investing first in player development, betting that commercial returns will follow.

"We had done a reset of APL in 2025," says Girish Dongre, Chief Operating Officer of the Andhra Cricket Association.

The association redesigned its ownership model and invited fresh franchise bids.

The response surprised organisers.

"We had about 15-16 interests. We had earlier six team franchises. Because of the demand, we had to close at seven team franchises because we do not have more cricketers to participate in this league."

Those seven franchises were sold for between ₹1.53 crore and ₹2.51 crore, generating more than ₹14 crore in franchise fees.

Even so, Dongre insists profitability is not the immediate objective.

"At the moment we are looking at making a really good team, good players, where we have good representations at IPL and Indian cricket."

That reflects Andhra's current reality. Apart from Nitish Kumar Reddy, the state has had relatively limited IPL representation in recent years.

Instead, the league is focused on creating opportunities for young players.

"We are looking to give platform to the youngsters in a very high competitive environment so that they get IPL-ready and they get noticed by the scouts."

This season, representatives from six IPL franchises attended matches in person, while several others tracked performances remotely.

"We had a good season where five or six boys were in franchise consideration."

Only one eventually secured an IPL opportunity, but Dongre believes the wider visibility matters just as much.

"There are players who were out of recognition. Now they are getting noticed by franchises."

He cites batter Ashwin Hebbar as one example.

"His performance has been great... now all the franchises are looking at him. I don't know whether end of the day he'll make it to IPL or not. But at least there is a feeling because of his videos, he's being followed."

For Andhra, that growing attention represents the first step towards building a stronger cricket economy.

Broadcast expands regional cricket's reach

For years, one of the biggest limitations for state T20 leagues was visibility. Most competitions were confined to local audiences, with limited television coverage and little digital distribution. That equation is changing rapidly as broadcasters and streaming platforms look to extend India's cricket calendar beyond the IPL.

Today, almost every major regional competition has secured a national broadcast or streaming partner.

The wider distribution is beginning to translate into scale.

The Maharashtra Premier League has also expanded its broadcast reach to nearly 170 million viewers, according to a report by PTI. The Mumbai T20 league is also one of the most viewed tournaments of the game.

For broadcasters, the leagues provide premium live cricket outside the IPL window. For state associations, they offer an opportunity to reach audiences far beyond their own borders.

The sponsorship reset

The sponsorship market is also entering a new phase.

The IPL continues to dominate cricket advertising. According to GlobalData, the tournament generated around $105 million (about ₹900 crore) through central sponsorship deals during the 2025 season, while Houlihan Lokey estimated advertising revenues of more than $600 million.

That commercial momentum is gradually spilling over into regional cricket as brands look for year-round engagement instead of restricting their campaigns to the IPL's two-month window.

The TNPL, which is widely regarded as India's benchmark regional league, has attracted a broad mix of national advertisers including AbhiBus, KEI Wires & Cables and Surf Excel Matic, demonstrating that state competitions can evolve into credible marketing platforms. The T20 Mumbai League, meanwhile, had Nuvama Wealth as its title sponsor for the latest edition.

For newer leagues, however, the sponsorship playbook has changed significantly.

Until recently, betting-linked surrogate advertisers accounted for a sizeable share of sponsorship revenues across regional cricket. Tighter regulations around betting and real-money gaming advertising have forced leagues to diversify.

"Everybody was coming in to sponsor mainly the surrogates," Dongre says. "This year... a new game has started for sponsorships."

The Andhra Premier League now counts GMR, Andhra Pradesh Tourism, TVS Motor and several regional companies among its partners.

"We have done around ₹3.5 crore to ₹4 crore this year," Dongre says. "I'm sure next year we will do double of what we have done."

Mumbai has witnessed a similar evolution.

According to Gupta, advertisers no longer see regional leagues merely as local branding exercises. "Earlier the brands looked at regional league as a local visibility platform, but today they see it as a serious cricket and youth engagement platform."

Instead of investing only in perimeter boards and jersey logos, brands are increasingly looking at digital content, player-led storytelling, regional identity and year-round fan engagement.

Fans are beginning to pay

Ticketing has emerged as another indicator of commercial maturity.

For decades, domestic cricket largely depended on free entry. Franchise leagues are now testing whether fans are willing to pay for a premium regional product.

Mumbai appears to have found an answer.

The league generated more than ₹1 crore in ticket revenue this season, including ₹51 lakh from the final alone. "People bought ₹51 lakh worth of tickets for the final, which means that they really take this IP as a serious IP," Gupta said.

Andhra is taking a different approach.

Rather than monetising immediately, the association first expanded the tournament beyond Visakhapatnam to Kadapa and Mangalagiri, attracting an estimated 35,000-40,000 spectators despite free entry. Future editions are planned in Kakinada and Tirupati, with ticketing expected to follow as local fan bases strengthen.

The real business is talent

For all the discussions around sponsorships and media rights, administrators say the biggest measure of success remains the number of cricketers who graduate to bigger stages.

"Regional leagues now play all three roles," Gupta said. "First, they are a talent pipeline. Second, they are becoming a media property. Third, they become a standalone business—but only if they are managed professionally."

Every established state league now points to the IPL players it has produced.

The TNPL has served as a launchpad for Sai Sudharsan, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, R Sai Kishore and Shahrukh Khan. Karnataka's Maharaja Trophy has strengthened one of India's richest talent pipelines, featuring players including Devdutt Padikkal, Abhinav Manohar, Vijaykumar Vyshak and Vidwath Kaverappa. The UP T20 League helped Sameer Rizvi earn IPL recognition, while the Maharashtra, Delhi and Mumbai leagues are steadily creating similar pathways.

Every player who progresses to the IPL strengthens a league's credibility with franchise owners, broadcasters, sponsors and aspiring youngsters.

The implications extend well beyond player development.

While Mumbai demonstrates what commercial maturity can eventually look like, Andhra represents an earlier stage of that journey, investing in talent and infrastructure before chasing profits. Together, they illustrate the emergence of India's next cricket economy.