The pull of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is massive. After ICC World Cups, it is the biggest thing in world cricket. In fact, the tournament is one of the most viewed sporting events. That’s some achievement for a tournament that is not even 20 years old. With every season, IPL gets bigger and better. Now, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) seems be adamant in expanding it.
The IPL is heading towards its biggest structural change since the introduction of ten permanent franchises. The BCCI is now actively planning to expand the tournament from 74 matches to 94 matches starting from the 2028 season. Well, the plan was to go past 74 last year only, but that couldn’t be possible. But it is only a matter of time now.
Major IPL plans for BCCI
IPL chairman Arun Dhumal confirmed that the long-term plan is to move towards a complete home-and-away format, where every team plays every other side twice. That would effectively end the current ‘virtual group’ structure introduced after the addition of Gujarat Titans (GT) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
The IPL has already become cricket’s biggest commercial property outside ICC events. Its numbers continue to explode every season. The IPL 2026 opener between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) reportedly generated over 426 million views on JioHotstar, outperforming 51 of the 55 matches played during the T20 World Cup 2026. Of course, the tournament still has a lot of room to grow.
Arun Dhumal confirms 94-match IPL plan
Speaking about the league’s future roadmap, Dhumal made it clear that the BCCI does not want to add more franchises for now. Instead, the focus is on increasing the number of games with the existing 10-team structure. “With the given set of teams, only we can go for more number of matches. So it doesn’t make sense as of now to increase the number of teams. Because if we have to have an equal number of home and away matches, from 74 we can go up to 94. That would be the ideal situation.” Dhumal said as per India Today.
Under the current system, teams do not face every opponent twice due to scheduling limitations. The IPL presently operates with two virtual groups to keep the tournament within a manageable window. The original media rights blueprint actually included gradual expansion. When the BCCI sold IPL broadcasting rights for a staggering INR 48,390 crore (reportedly), the roadmap proposed was to steadily increase the number of IPL matches per year. However, the jump has been delayed because of the packed international calendar.
SeasonPlanned MatchesActual Matches202374742024747420258474202684742027 onward9474 (Most likely)Bigger IPL window likely after 2027 FTP cycle
The biggest challenge remains for the BCCI is the ICC’s Future Tours Programme (FTP), which is currently locked till 2027. Right now, the IPL operates in a tight March-to-May slot. There isn’t any other window left as all international teams get busy afterwards.
“Since the bilaterals are locked in till 2027, we would need a bigger window to raise the number of games from 74 to 94,” Dhumal explained. “So we are looking for a bigger window post-2027 bilateral cycle. In case we can get that, we will definitely try to have 94 games.”
The BCCI is expected to push for a dedicated two-and-a-half-month IPL window in the next ICC cycle, effectively reducing bilateral cricket during that period. Cricket is obviously moving towards the ‘football culture’.
Another issue is double-headers. To fit 94 matches into the current calendar, the IPL would require significantly more afternoon games, something broadcasters are not particularly keen on because of split television audiences and lower advertising returns.
Interestingly, despite the league’s growth, Dhumal reiterated that the BCCI has no plans to expand beyond 10 teams. This is interesting since Dhumal kept the idea of expanding the tournament beyond ten franchises open. The board now believes adding more franchises could dilute the domestic talent pool and create an even bigger scheduling headache.
IPL teams through the years
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