Indian Premier League Cricket (Audio)

When you saw this episode pop up in your feed, you either jumped for joy and hit play immediately (in which case you’re not reading this), or you said “Huh. That’s a surprising episode.” Well, if you’re in group two, boy do we have a treat for you! IPL is the fastest-growing, most dynamic and most disruptive force in the sports industry today… and this may come as a shock to many Americans, but it might just be on track to surpass the NFL as the world’s most valuable sports league. The IPL is currently valued at $16B, with a TV rights deal that’s higher in per-match dollars than the NBA and the English Premier League. And all this for a league that’s right now just 10 teams who collectively only play 74 total games per season… and oh yeah, the whole thing is only 17 years old! Tune in for an absolutely amazing story, filled with genius, drama (Rupert Murdoch! Disney! Bollywood!) and a perfect encapsulation of the rise of modern India. Sponsors: Many thanks to our fantastic Spring ‘25 Season partners: J.P. Morgan Payments https://bit.ly/acquiredJPMPiplyt ServiceNow https://bit.ly/acquiredsn Fundrise https://bit.ly/acquiredfundrise25 Crusoe https://bit.ly/acquiredcrusoefall24 Links: Save the date, July 15 in NYC! http://acquired.fm/nyc Ed Cowan’s Business Breakdowns of IPL https://joincolossus.com/episode/cowan-ipl-reinventing-cricket/ Worldly Partners’ Multi-Decade IPL Study https://worldlypartners.com/businesshistory Episode sources https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d-9BQUgygq0guUFIGDkzbR1S95TANHLyzpgZcUioZow/edit?usp=sharing Carve Outs: Severance https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11280740/ Stratechery https://stratechery.com More Acquired: Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes https://www.acquired.fm/email Join the Slack http://acquired.fm/slack Subscribe to ACQ2 https://pod.link/acquiredlp Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store! https://www.acquired.fm/store Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

Ben GilberthostDavid Rosenthalhost

Mar 24, 20254h 28mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: March 24, 2025
Duration: 4h 28m
Channel: Acquired
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

When you saw this episode pop up in your feed, you either jumped for joy and hit play immediately (in which case you’re not reading this), or you said “Huh. That’s a surprising episode.” Well, if you’re in group two, boy do we have a treat for you! IPL is the fastest-growing, most dynamic and most disruptive force in the sports industry today… and this may come as a shock to many Americans, but it might just be on track to surpass the NFL as the world’s most valuable sports league. The IPL is currently valued at $16B, with a TV rights deal that’s higher in per-match dollars than the NBA and the English Premier League. And all this for a league that’s right now just 10 teams who collectively only play 74 total games per season… and oh yeah, the whole thing is only 17 years old! Tune in for an absolutely amazing story, filled with genius, drama (Rupert Murdoch! Disney! Bollywood!) and a perfect encapsulation of the rise of modern India. Sponsors: Many thanks to our fantastic Spring ‘25 Season partners: J.P. Morgan Payments https://bit.ly/acquiredJPMPiplyt ServiceNow https://bit.ly/acquiredsn Fundrise https://bit.ly/acquiredfundrise25 Crusoe https://bit.ly/acquiredcrusoefall24 Links: Save the date, July 15 in NYC! http://acquired.fm/nyc Ed Cowan’s Business Breakdowns of IPL https://joincolossus.com/episode/cowan-ipl-reinventing-cricket/ Worldly Partners’ Multi-Decade IPL Study https://worldlypartners.com/businesshistory Episode sources https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d-9BQUgygq0guUFIGDkzbR1S95TANHLyzpgZcUioZow/edit?usp=sharing Carve Outs: Severance https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11280740/ Stratechery https://stratechery.com More Acquired: Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes https://www.acquired.fm/email Join the Slack http://acquired.fm/slack Subscribe to ACQ2 https://pod.link/acquiredlp Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store! https://www.acquired.fm/store Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

SPEAKERS

Ben Gilbert
host
David Rosenthal
host

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Acquired, featuring Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, Indian Premier League Cricket (Audio) explores how the IPL engineered cricket into a global entertainment powerhouse Acquired traces the IPL’s origin to Lalit Modi’s media and cricket politics journey, showing how he commercialized Indian cricket rights and then launched a city-franchise T20 league in 2008.

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