The Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction 2024 telecast on Star Sports matched the greatest viewing of any “mini” auction in BARC history, recording 22.8 million viewers, a 29% increase over the previous year.
The auction occurred at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai and ran for over six hours. A record-breaking 0.92 billion minutes were watched during the event. This indicates a roughly 57% increase in the overall time watched for the event over the previous year.
The most well-followed parts of the IPL Auction 2024 were the sensationalised bidding wars for the Australian players, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, who were ultimately onboarded by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for a combined total of over INR 44 crore.
A Star Sports spokesperson said, “A record-breaking year for Cricket viewership on Star Sports has ended on a high with the IPL Auction. The response to the auction also serves as a stellar start to the runway for IPL 2024 and reinforces the strong association of the marquee event with Star Sports.
“A distinctive element in this year’s auction coverage was the integration of fan sentiment in our coverage, in sync with BCCI and IPL teams’ efforts to integrate fans in the proceedings at the venue.
“A distinctive element in this year’s auction coverage was the integration of fan sentiment in our coverage, in sync with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and IPL teams’ efforts to integrate fans in the proceedings at the venue,” the spokesperson concluded.
Furthermore, Star Sports released a press release stating that a further 2.2 million viewers saw the IPL Auction 2024 coverage, which featured live shows before, during, and after the event, as well as a curtain-raiser on the eve of the auction and “Cricket Live—Auction Special.”
The IPL 2023 live broadcast was viewed by 505 million unique viewers throughout the Star network, the most for any edition of the competition.