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: Rippling: https://bit.ly/acquiredrippling [https://bit.ly/acquiredrippling] Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25 [https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25] Odd Lots: https://bit.ly/acquiredoddlots [https://bit.ly/acquiredoddlots] ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn [https://bit.ly/acquiredsn] 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 [https://www.acquired.fm/email] with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes * Join the Slack [http://acquired.fm/slack] * Subscribe to ACQ2 [https://pod.link/acquiredlp] * Merch Store [https://www.acquired.fm/store]! © Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC