IPL Vs PSL - Which Is The Better T20 Franchise League?

PSL vs IPL- (X.com)PSL vs IPL- (X.com)

The Indo-Pak rivalry is one of the most heated and intense things in the world across sports. Be it Virat against Babar in cricket, rich history in hockey or turning up in thousands to watch Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem go against each other in the Olympics. 

Another area where there is a lot of competition and never-ending debates is which country has the better T20 league. IPL or PSL? 

The Indian Premier League was launched in 2008 and was the pioneer in franchise cricket, while other countries followed the footsteps. PCB launched the PSL in 2016 almost eight years after IPL's first season. 

Meanwhile, fans from both sides argue over the better league, so let's compare a few parameters such as revenue, viewership and overall quality to fairly conclude the better league. 

1. Viewership

When it comes to viewership, the IPL is way ahead of the PSL, as the Indian premier league shattered several records this year following another successful season. 

The 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season was watched by 620 million viewers on Viacom18-owned JioCinema, which was a 38 per cent increase from the previous campaign

Meanwhile, Star Sports, which has the TV rights for the tournament, saw upto 510 million viewers for the tournament’s first 51 games.

Talking about PSL, as mentioned by former PCB chief Najam Sethi, the 2024 season had somewhat around just 150 million digital views, which is 1/4th of what Jio Cinema did in IPL 2024.

Also, one of the images that shook fans the most and punctured PSL's viewership bubble was when the fans spotted empty seats in the ground. 

2.Revenue and Valuation

Talking about revenue and valuation, then PSL is not even the second-best franchise league let alone beating IPL. It must be known that IPL is the world's second biggest league in terms of per-match value only behind the NFL. The following chart will show the revenue difference between the two leagues, as PSL winner gets less than the WPL champion. 

IPL 2024:

Winners:  KKR (INR 20 crore)
Runners-up: SRH (INR 13 crore)

WPL 2024:

Winners: Royal Challengers Bangalore (INR 6 crore)
Runners-up: Delhi Capitals (INR 3 crore)

PSL 2024:

Winners: Islamabad United (INR 4.13 crore)
Runners-up: Multan Sultans (INR 1.65 crore)

Further, the IPL is 100 times bigger than other cricket leagues in terms of valuation. It stands at around 10,681 US million dollars, followed by the Hundred (508), SA20 (309), and then PSL (299).

3. League Quality

If we look at the league quality then there are reports that PSL might clash with IPL next year because of the Champions Trophy in February which is the time-slot for PSL.

The move can turn out critical as the foreign players would prefer the IPL or the PSL as they get more attention, salary, and recognition by playing in the Indian league. If you compare both leagues, then more bigger stars play in the IPL than PSL.