The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Indian Premier League (IPL) as a franchise-based Twenty20 (T20) tournament. This created a new model in cricket: privately owned city teams playing a short, televised season each year.
The first franchise auction awarded eight city teams and raised about US$723.59 million in total. The auction formalized the league’s franchise structure and signaled major commercial interest from business and entertainment groups.
The first IPL player auction introduced a salary-cap based squad-building system. High bids—such as MS Dhoni’s US$1.5 million deal—helped define how the league mixed global stars with Indian talent under a controlled spending model.
The first IPL season started, establishing the league’s core format: a league stage followed by playoffs and a final. Its strong attendance and TV reach quickly made the IPL a central event in the cricket calendar.
The entire 2009 IPL season was held in South Africa because of security and scheduling challenges during India’s general election period. The move showed the league could operate internationally when needed, protecting its annual window.
The IPL sold two new franchises—Pune and Kochi—through an expansion auction. This marked a shift from a fixed eight-team league toward growth, driven by escalating franchise valuations and broader geographic reach.
The 2011 season began with ten teams, adding Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Expansion increased the match inventory (and revenue potential) but also raised concerns about scheduling and long-term financial stability.
The BCCI terminated the Kochi franchise after it failed to provide a required bank guarantee under its agreement. The termination highlighted governance and financial compliance risks within the franchise system.
Police investigations in 2013 led to arrests of players for alleged spot-fixing, alongside separate allegations of illegal betting tied to team officials. The scandal damaged the league’s credibility and triggered major legal and governance scrutiny.
A portion of the 2014 IPL season was played in the United Arab Emirates due to security constraints during India’s general elections. This partial relocation reinforced a pattern: elections could force venue changes even as the league remained on schedule.
A Supreme Court-appointed committee suspended the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals franchises for two seasons over links to illegal betting. The decision forced the IPL to replace two marquee teams and reshaped league planning and team rosters.
Sunrisers Hyderabad won the 2016 final, a season played while CSK and RR were suspended. This title run became a marker of the league’s transition period, when team lineups and competitive balance shifted due to the two-team absence.
After serving the two-season suspension, Chennai Super Kings re-entered the IPL in 2018 and won the title. The comeback illustrated how the league’s franchise model could absorb major disruption and still restore popular teams to the center of the competition.
The IPL’s 2020 season was scheduled entirely in the UAE from September to November because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a major operational change: a bio-secure “bubble” approach and a shifted calendar that kept the league running during global disruptions.
Mumbai Indians won the 2020 final in Dubai, finishing a season played entirely outside India and without spectators. The result provided a clear endpoint to the 2008–2020 franchise-era arc: the league endured elections, expansion stress, corruption scandals, and a pandemic while remaining a premier T20 competition.
Indian Premier League: Franchise T20 Era (2008–2020)