IPL 2021 witnesses a decline in viewership

Indian Premier League kick-started on 9th April, this year. Amidst huge doubts and criticism, the BCCI commenced the biggest cricket season in the country. Last year, the tournament took place in Dubai but this time, the government of India granted permission to conduct the games without any attendance in the stands. IPL usually attracts huge viewership but surprisingly, the current season witnessed a decline in the same, when compared to last year.

The latest BARC ratings reveal that the tournament’s television viewership underwent a decline in double-digit. As per the numbers, an average of 105 million unique viewers watched 17 matches in the first two weeks of IPL 2021, registering a dip of 9.5% over last year. In 2020, an average of 116 million unique viewers watched 14 matches in the first two weeks of the league.

The following is the data of the viewership in the first two weeks over a period of 3 years.

IPL 2021 – 105 Million viewers for first 17 matches
IPL 2020 – 116 Million Viewers for first 14 matches
IPL 2019 – 101 Million Viewers for first 17 matches

The stats for the viewing minutes of the games in the first two weeks is as follows.

IPL 2021 – 6.62 Billion for first 17 matches
IPL 2020 – 8.34 Billion for first 14 matches
IPL 2019 – 6.07 Billion for first 17 matches

Certainly, COVID-19 is to be blamed for the decline in the viewership. With Corona second wave dancing around, everyone is occupied to handle the crisis. Amidst this crisis, there is a debate going on, to ban the tournament this year. However, BCCI made it clear that the tournament will be carried out without any changes to the schedule.