How has IPL affected bilateral series viewership?


IPL 2023 Winner

The IPL has definitely reshaped how fans engage with cricket, and its impact on bilateral series viewership is a hot topic in the cricket world. Let’s unpack this:

📉 1. Drop in Viewership for Low-Stakes Bilaterals

  • Bilateral series—especially ODIs or T20Is with no context—have seen noticeable dips in viewership.

  • After watching star players clash in IPL pressure cookers, fans are less excited about slower-paced or one-sided international series.

🧾 Examples:

  • A mid-year ODI series between, say, India and Zimbabwe or Sri Lanka and West Indies, barely gets attention compared to an IPL mid-table clash like RCB vs RR.

  • Even bilateral T20Is sometimes feel like “IPL-lite”, especially when many of the same players are involved.

📺 2. Fan Attachment is Shifting

  • Younger audiences are more emotionally invested in franchises than national teams, especially outside World Cups.

  • People now say “I support CSK” with more passion than “I support India” during a bilateral India-Sri Lanka T20.

🧠 Key Insight:

IPL builds year-round engagement with storylines, loyalty, and drama. Bilaterals can’t match that unless stakes are super high.

📈 3. Bilaterals as Pre-IPL or Pre-World Cup Prep

  • Fans increasingly see bilaterals as auditions for IPL or tune-ups for ICC events, not must-watch standalone content.

  • Broadcasters package them accordingly, often using IPL angles to hype them up:

    “Watch Yashasvi Jaiswal before he lights up the IPL!”

🧨 4. Impact on Scheduling and Star Power

  • Star players now rest more often during bilaterals to manage workload before or after IPL. This affects both:

    • Quality of cricket, and

    • Viewer interest, since the big names might not be playing.

👀 Example:

  • India rested core players during some post-IPL T20Is in 2023 and 2024. Fan engagement was lukewarm.

🧭 But There Are Exceptions:

  • Bilateral series with historical or emotional weight—like The Ashes, India vs Pakistan (when it happens), or India vs Australia—still draw solid viewership.

  • Formats like World Test Championship have helped add purpose to some Test bilaterals.

🔚 TL;DR:

The IPL has raised the bar for cricket entertainment. As a result, bilateral series—especially “filler tours”—struggle to match that excitement, unless there’s a clear narrative or consequence.

Would you like a chart or timeline showing bilateral series viewership trends pre- and post-IPL? Or maybe some ideas for how bilateral cricket can evolve to stay relevant in the IPL era?