Five reasons for IPL 2022 viewership decline, source reveals

The Indian Premier League is one of the best T20 cricket tournaments in the world. The competition is held yearly and followed by the best teams across India. The team often represents the best cricket teams from cities in India.

This year of IPL has already started on March 26 and it will end on May 29, 2022. 10 teams go against each other in a 70-match run-down in the 15th edition of the IPL.

Unfortunately, the league is seeing a drop in rating and viewership lately. People gradually move away from watching India’s best cricket tournament. The phenomena drive people to analyze why it happens. Five core reasons came up in the discussion which you can find below.

Previous champion teams perform awfully this season

The Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians are among the best teams expected to lead the IPL to victory in every season they are in. With CSK winning four seasons in the past and MI winning five, no one would guess they are at the bottom of the list of the IPL now.

CSK has only won twice in the IPL this year out of seven games they played. While MI has it worse by losing all eight of their matches and winning nothing at all. The previous champions are in the ninth and tenth place on the list of teams.

Both teams did so badly disappointed fans are moving away entirely from the tournament. They are the bulk of IPL viewerships in every season, thus the reason why the IPL has very little to no views this year.

Shorter waiting period between IPLs

The 2021 season was supposed to follow the same time window as 2022’s. But the tournament was divided into two phases due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in the country mid-tournament. The League started from April to May and continued from September to October.

The IPL season 2021 just ends six months ago in October 2021 while IPL 2022 started in March. The short duration between IPLs resulted in cricket overdose and far less buildup and hype this year.

Legendary skippers step down from captaincy

MS Dhoni of CSK and Virat Kohli from Royal Challengers Bangalore are moving away as skippers to join other roles. They are the two people most people look up to when watching the IPL tournament. But they were absent as captain this year and left fans disappointed.

Dhoni's calm and collected way of leading captivates fans leading them to root for him. In contrast, Kohli’s leadership is more aggressive and vigor has made fans look forward to his next moves. Their absence made people not watch the IPL this year.

Less COVID-19 restrictions

COVID-19 has wrought havoc across every country in the world including India. For the last two years, special health restrictions are imposed to stop the spread of the pandemic-causing virus. That includes restrictions on public gatherings causing almost all people to spend more time at home. Meaning more people have more time watching the IPL on TV in the latest years.

But that is not the case anymore since regulations are lifted due to far fewer COVID-19 cases in India. People are going back to work and have no time to watch the IPL anymore. They are too busy and exhausted from work and everyday commuting. This resulted in less viewership on IPL this year.

Star Players' Absence

Chris Gayle, AB De Villiers, and Suresh Raina are among other cricket legends who unfortunately are not participating in the IPL 2022. They are either retired or withdrawn from the tournament entirely. Their huge following of fans is disappointed and leading to less IPL TV viewership.