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The 2026 season of the Indian Premier League has witnessed a noticeable decline in both linear TV viewership as well as advertiser involvement. According to the figures from BARC India and TAM Sports, ratings, average viewership and reach for the first half of the season has dropped dramatically.

The stats prove a clear migration pattern of fans while viewing the tournament as TV viewership is decreasing while it is simultaneously growing in the digital space as well as connected TV(CTV) space and a change is occurring in how fans are viewing cricket.

The TV ratings for IPL 2026 have fallen by 18.8% dropping from 4.57 in 2025 to 3.71 this year. The average viewership has dropped by 26% dropping from 10.6 million viewers in 2025 to 7.84 million viewers.

Reach for the tournament has dropped by 8.3%, dropping from 123.96 million viewers in 2025 to 113.61 million viewers in 2026. A larger decline has been noticed in the Average Minute Audience (AMA) as opposed to reach showing that a drop has been observed in viewers remaining connected with the match for long duration on TV.

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The revenue side of the league has also taken a hit as the no of advertisers has dropped by 31% from over 65 brands in 2025 to just 45 brands in 2026. Also, a big change in the advertising mix has been noted as there have been a total of 44 brands exiting IPL 2026 while only 24 brands making their debut this season, owing to reasons like the ban of e-gaming brands from IPL 2025 where they contributed to a significant amount of the advertising slot.

In place of these brands, different categories have taken their space such as mouth fresheners taking the top spot as they contribute more than 14% to the total advertising volume.

Although TV numbers are declining, Digital platforms are in a steep growth. In fact according to JioStar, the reach during the first weekend of IPL 2026 on digital platform reached 515 million whereas watch time recorded was 32.6 billion minutes.

This indicates an evident transition towards online streaming and devices connected to internet, which is giving away more flexibility and entertainment than Television screens.

This shift is a win-win for the Board of Control for Cricket in India and broadcasters. As even now the whole ecosystem of IPL holds an enormous amount of value for over Rs 76,000 crore, diminishing of TV numbers can lead to a negative influence in media rights for future events. With the next broadcast period coming after 2027 having a stronger lean towards Digital, this transition from TV to Digital will continue to progress with the next cycle.