The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the most extravagant and certainly the richest T20 leagues in the world. The IPL paved way for most of the T20 leagues across the planet, like the Big Bash League, Caribbean Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League and Pakistan Super League to name a few.
This competition has also given rise to a few T20 leagues in some states of India. Tamil Nadu Premier League, Karnataka Premier League, Mumbai T20 League and Saurashtra Premier League have been successfully launched.
The Indian Premier League was initiated in the year 2008 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The inaugural edition saw 8 teams playing a double round robin league stage followed by the semi-finals and final.
The only change in the format is that the top four teams in the IPL 2020 points table play the ‘Playoffs’ that have replaced the traditional ‘semi-final and final’ knockouts.
As mentioned earlier, 8 franchises will be competing in IPL 2020. Below is the detailed list of teams, their respective owners and sponsors.
| Team | Owner(s) | Sponsor(s) |
| Chennai Super Kings | N. Srinivasan(India Cements) | SEVEN, Muthoot, India Cements, Gulf Oil, British Empire, Clear Anti-Dandruff, Nippon Paint, Jio, Khadim’s, ACT Fibernet, Dream11, iB Cricket, NOVA, Hello FM, Fever FM, ASAP, Boat, Sonata, Lilliputhub, The Souled Store and Cover it up |
| Delhi Capitals | Kiran Kumar Gandhi (GMR Group), Parth Jindal (JSW Group) | Daikin, Ebix Cash, Lotus Herbals, Jio, DTDC, Coca Cola, Dream11, Fever 104 FM, 107.2 FM NASHA and PayTM Insider.in |
| Kings XI Punjab | Mohit Burman (Dabur), Ness Wadia (Wadia Group), Priety Zinta (PZNZ Media), Karan Paul (Apeejay Surrendra Group) | T10 Sports, Ebix Cash, Jio, Fena Detergent, Seagram’s Royal Stag, Coca Cola, Kingfisher, cricfig and Dream11 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | Shah Rukh Khan (Red Chillies Entertainment), Jay Mehta, Juhi Chawla (Mehta Group) | Nokia, Jio, Lux Cozi, Exide, Seagram’s Royal Stag, Greenply, Khadim’s, Astral Pipes, Asian Paints, Senco, TheTelegraph, Fever 104 FM, Goibibo, Sprite, Dream11, Sampark, Cover it up, Gully, Kaadoo, Mobicloud Technologies, The Souled Store and Status Quo |
| Mumbai Indians | Nita Ambani, Akash Ambani | Samsung, DHFL, Colors, Jio, Kingfisher, USHA, Sharp, Burger King, Dream11, Boat, ESA, BookMyShow, 91.1 FM Radio City, Fever 104 FM, Performax and DNA Networks |
| Rajasthan Royals | Amisha Hathiramani (Tresco International Ltd), Manoj Badale (Emerging Media IPL Ltd), Lachlan Murdoch (Blue Water Estate Ltd), Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty (Kuki Investments Ltd), Shane Warne (Spinners) | Alcis Sports, Expo 2020, KEI Wires & Cables, JK Lakshmi Cement, Surya LED, Jio, Nerolac, Astral Pipes, Chawla Band, JK Sixer Cement, INOX, Kingfisher, Deakin University, ClearScore, Dream11, Zomato, SBI, Cricfig, Mitashi, Rajasthan Patrika, Yellow Panther, iB Cricket and EHCC |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | Anand Kripalu (United Spirits Limited) | Zeven and Wrogn |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | Kalanithi Maran (Sun Network) | JK Lakshmi Cement, Rupa, Jio and Nerolac |
The 13th edition of the IPL was set to be conducted just three months before the T20 World Cup 2020. However, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, BCCI announced the new IPL schedule to be from Sept 19 - Nov 9.
Keep an eye on Sportskeeda for all the IPL live match scores and updates from the tournament.
The IPL brand value is consistently on a rise every season. In 2016, the IPL was valued at $ 4.16 billion (approx INR 282 billion). It increased to $ 5.3 billion (approx INR 341 billion) in 2017, to $ 6.13 billion (approx INR 429 billion) in 2018 and $ 6.7 billion (approx INR 475 billion) in 2019.
The increase in brand value was 27.4% in 2017, 15.66% in 2018 and 9.3% in 2019. These statistics suggest that there will be an increase in 2020.
A lot of online stores like Amazon, Snapdeal and Flipkart sell unofficial jerseys of IPL franchises from INR 149 to INR 2,199. The Souled Store sells official merchandise of the Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab.
The website ‘Case it Up’ also sells mobile covers, pop holders and jerseys related to the VIVO IPL 2020. TYKA and T10 Sports also sell such merchandise online.
Official merchandise is also sold at the home grounds of all the IPL franchises. For more official merchandise, check out the official websites of Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Fans can watch any IPL live match on television from 16 different countries. If some of those miss out on either those regions or the channels there is the option of online broadcasters as well.
| Territory | Network |
| Afghanistan | Ariana |
| Africa (Sub-Sahara) | SuperSport |
| Australia | Fox Cricket |
| Bangladesh | Channel 9 |
| Bhutan | Star Sports Network |
| Brunei | Astro |
| Canada | Ethnic Channels Group, CricketGateway |
| Caribbean | SportsMax |
| Hong Kong | PCCW |
| India | Star Sports Network |
| Malaysia | Astro |
| Arab world | BeIN Sports |
| Nepal | Star Sports Network |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport |
| Sri Lanka | Star Sports Network |
| United States | Willow |
| Online (Worldwide) | Hotstar |
Undoubtedly, the decision to host IPL in UAE rather than in India is the biggest change we will be seeing in the tournament this year. Adding to it will be the safety measures and new rules with respect to the pandemic. The 2020 IPL will be challenging for everyone including the players, hosts and the viewers.
VIVO IPL 2020 will see a few new changes in the tournament. The world of international cricket has introduced ‘concussion substitutes’ during matches and the biggest T20 tournament in the world hasn’t held back this year either. For the first time in the history of the competition, there will be concussion substitutes in the IPL.
A trial of the third umpires checking the front-foot no-balls was conducted and it has been passed by the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly. He has announced that the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League will have the third umpire check every ball for the front-foot no-ball to reduce the workload of the on-field umpires and use technology to the fullest.
There will also be an ‘All-Stars’ game three days before the inaugural match of IPL 2020. BCCI President, Sourav Ganguly, has announced that such a game will be played every year before the start of the tournament.
