IPL: The cricket sensation causing a betting bonanza
Cricket’s biggest show returned this weekend with the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) getting underway in Kolkata.
And while online betting is restricted in India – to such categories as the lottery and horse racing – there’s a growing international gambling market interested in the Twenty20 league.
Ironically the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were once suspended from the competition – in 2016 and 2017 – following a spot-fixing and controversy.
Global betting giant Entain tells Morning Wire that 90 per cent of IPL bets placed in their international markets are in-play, with just 10 per cent wagered pre-match.
Last year’s competition saw the highest average first innings score, 191, with punters often betting at the half-way point.
Andrew Harriott, group head of cricket betting, says: “Generally, the two biggest factors for those looking to bet on cricket are: high run-scoring feats and record-breaking chases.
“The IPL delivers both of these in abundance.”
The betting breakdown
Entain’s Global Sportsbook reveals that 40 per cent of Indian Premier League bets in 2024 went on match betting while nearly 15 per cent went on next over runs, 12 per cent on team runs and eight per cent on player runs. In total 90 per cent of bets happen after the first innings.
The spread of bets appears to be pretty fluid in the IPL, and with a number of the teams now having minority or majority stakes in Hundred franchises there could be some affiliation built between fans in the UK and clubs across the subcontinent.
But the outcome can be a toss-up, with last year’s games seeing a near 50-50 split between winners who batted first and winners who battered second.
Added Harriott: “Cricket is more complex than most sports for bookmakers in that it has a third dimension, because of how much the pitch can impact a winning score.
“This can be challenging and leave us feeling like meteorologists at times.”
IPL changes
The IPL has, too, had three different winners in three years, with the Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans all lifting the trophy.
And the Titans did it in their first season in the expanded tournament in 2022, the first case of a first season victory since Rajasthan Royals’ 2008 win in the IPL’s first ever iteration.
Their owners were private equity giants CVC Capital Partners but they’ve sold a majority stake to Torrent Group for an estimated $575m, valuing the franchise at over $850m.
There’s a lot of money hovering around the IPL, whether that be in the value of the teams or in the betting markets. But how will the cards fall this year? We’ll have to wait and see.