IPL 2025 Could See Major Revenue Shift as BCCI Considers Alcohol Ad Ban

Chaitanya Kohlion 2 minute read
2 minute read

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking to place a ban on all forms of tobacco, alcohol and crypto advertisements for the cricket body’s flagship Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, as per a Hindustan Times report.

The BCCI’s Apex Council Meeting will discuss the issue on March 22, before the IPL season opener between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata.

IPL To Ban Adverts Focused On Tobacco, Alcohol and Crypto?

Earlier this month, the Union Health Ministry instructed the IPL to ban all forms of tobacco and alcohol advertising, including surrogate advertisements. The directive includes advertisements at stadiums, national television broadcasts, and all IPL-related events.

In a letter dated March 5, the Director-General of Health Services Atul Goel asked the BCCI to prevent commentators and players from endorsing tobacco or alcohol-related products, either explicitly or implicitly.

“The Indian Premier League being India’s most viewed sporting event, direct or indirect promotion of tobacco/alcohol on any platform linked to sports sends a contradictory message to the public about health and fitness,” Goel said.

BCCI’s Apex Council will discuss this matter in its March 22 meeting, as it will significantly affect the cricket tournament’s advertisement revenue in the upcoming season.

Why It Matters

Even if the BCCI decides to go ahead with the blanket ban on such advertising in accordance with the Health Ministry’s directive, there will be a glaring anomaly on display during the 2025 IPL season: the RCB franchise.

One of the original franchises of the T20 cricket league, RCB has been playing since the IPL’s inception in 2008. However, RCB’s ownership will be a cause for concern for the BCCI if it toes the line that the Health Ministry has outlined.

Vijay Mallya, former chairman of Kingfisher Airlines and United Spirits, was the Bengaluru-based outfit’s owner until 2016, when he fled to Britain after defaulting on eye-watering sums of loan payments.

Since then, United Spirits Limited, whose parent company Diageo claims on its website to be one of India’s leading beverage alcohol companies, solely owns the cricket franchise.

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Meanwhile, USL itself claims to sell 120 million cases of Scotch whisky, brandy, rum, vodka and gin, among other alcoholic products, on the RCB website.

Furthermore, the appointment of Diageo’s Chief Commercial Officer, Prathmesh Mishra, as RCB’s chairman in 2021 is a clear-cut sign of deepening ties between franchise cricket and the alcohol industry in India.

Prathmesh Mishra still occupies the RCB position four years after the appointment, in addition to managing Diageo operations in Korea and Japan.

Therefore, the BCCI must take into account the fact that an entire team in the T20 league is effectively bankrolled by alcohol sales before it decides anything about the Health Ministry-mandated ban.

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