In the story of Indian sporting evolution, 2025 will likely be remembered as the year the country finally outgrew its cricket obsession. What began as an uneven, cricket-dominated market has now transformed into a diversified, policy-backed, and tech-driven ecosystem one that is projected to be worth $40 billion by 2030, up from an estimated $19 billion today.
The shift isn’t accidental. It’s the product of a deliberate national strategy the Khelo Bharat Niti 2025, the rapid rise of digital consumption, and the growing commercial maturity of non-cricket sports. For the first time, India’s sports economy isn’t just about stadiums and screens. It’s about startups, OTT platforms, manufacturing hubs, and private equity exits.
The New Engine: Digital India and the Death of the TV-First Model
The biggest disruptor of Indian sport has not been a player or a league it’s the smartphone.
As of 2025, India’s digital sports audience exceeds 600 million, and for most, the mobile screen is the only arena that matters. OTT platforms like JioCinema, SonyLIV, and FanCode have rewritten the playbook offering multi-language feeds, interactive viewing, and low-cost access that’s brought fans from Ranchi to Rajkot into the fold.
The data tells its own story. Even as the IPL’s ecosystem value dipped to $8.8 billion after a period of consolidation, digital viewership soared. The value once locked in TV rights and central broadcast deals is migrating to direct-to-consumer (D2C) models merchandise, micro-subscriptions, and app-based loyalty programs.
As one senior media executive put it: “In India, the fan is now the broadcaster, the sponsor, and the market.”
This digital shift has had unexpected winners. Kabaddi, volleyball, and even e-sports have found new life on social media and OTT, bypassing traditional broadcasters altogether. The message is clear in a country of 700 million internet users, niche sports can now find national audiences.
The Khelo Bharat Niti 2025: From Policy to Profit
If digital disruption is one half of the story, government policy is the other. The Khelo Bharat Niti (KBN) 2025, unveiled in July, is India’s most ambitious sports policy to date a blueprint that fuses athletic excellence with economic vision. The target is bold, to turn sport into a GDP-contributing sector, and position India to bid for the 2036 Olympic Games.
At its core, KBN 2025 rests on five pillars: international excellence, economic growth, inclusivity, public participation, and educational integration. But what sets it apart is its market-first design.nFor the first time, the government has formally invited private capital into the system through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and ROI-based incentives. This means investors can expect returns from infrastructure projects whether they’re building academies, multi-sport arenas, or manufacturing units.
Sports Minister Mansukh L. Mandaviya called it “a shift from subsidy to sustainability.” And early signs suggest the private sector is responding. JSW, Reliance, and Adani are already expanding into sports education, manufacturing, and data-driven training systems. Even India’s traditional sports hubs Meerut and Jalandhar are being repositioned under Make in India to become global exporters of sports equipment. Today, they produce 75–80% of India’s sports goods; by 2030, the goal is to make them part of a $2 billion export engine.
From Monoculture to Marketplace: The Rise of Non-Cricket Leagues
Cricket still dominates Indian sport, but the country’s future growth lies beyond it. The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) remains the gold standard for non-cricket profitability. With a ₹180 crore-per-season broadcast deal and stable franchise earnings some teams reporting ₹2 crore annual profits it’s the rare Indian league where profitability isn’t theoretical.
By comparison, the Indian Super League (ISL) has struggled. While league operator FSDL turned a ₹176 crore profit last year, most clubs continue to bleed money, losing an average of ₹30 crore annually. But new entrants are rewriting the economics. The Prime Volleyball League (PVL), now valued at ₹500 crore, has proven that low-cost, high-engagement sports can thrive. Add to that the Uttar Pradesh Kabaddi League’s ₹238 crore deal, and a clear trend emerges: India’s regional sports markets long ignored are now commercial assets in their own right.
And then there’s the Women’s Premier League (WPL), the biggest success story in women’s sport. Its ecosystem value grew 8% year-on-year to ₹1,350 crore, attracting global sponsors and institutional investors who see it as a “clean, scalable, and socially relevant” property.
Together, these leagues have done something remarkable: they’ve broken cricket’s monopoly on both attention and investment.
For Indian fans, 2025 marked a behavioral turning point. Viewership has evolved into ownership fans don’t just watch; they buy, share, and interact.
Merchandise sales through e-commerce platforms have exploded, with the sports apparel market projected to touch $1.9 billion by 2029, growing at nearly 19% CAGR. Platforms like FanCode report that over 85% of their sales now come from official team merchandise a direct conversion of fandom into commerce.
Meanwhile, the SportsTech sector once a niche has become the new investor favorite. From AI analytics to virtual coaching apps, startups are attracting serious capital. The sector is projected to grow from $442 million in 2024 to $1.47 billion by 2033. Funds like Centre Court Capital’s ₹3.5 billion Sports VC are betting big on performance data, AI coaching tools, and fan engagement platforms. In the words of one investor, “Sports in India is not just about who wins; it’s about who builds the ecosystem.”
Private Equity, Exit Pathways, and the Maturity Test
If there was one defining financial milestone for Indian sport this year, it was CVC Capital’s exit from the Gujarat Titans. The sale of its 67% stake to the Torrent Group marked India’s first-ever institutional Private Equity exit from an IPL franchise proof that sports teams are now liquid, tradable assets.
This sets the stage for a new wave of sports M&A, where financial investors step aside for strategic conglomerates using teams not as vanity projects but as brand extensions. For global investors, it’s a critical signal: Indian sports are no longer a speculative market. They’re a structured asset class.
E-Sports: Regulation and the Youth Dividend
Few sectors illustrate India’s digital evolution better than e-sports.
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act (PROG) 2025 separated competitive e-sports from gambling-linked “real money games” a long-overdue clean-up that restored credibility and attracted mainstream brands. Now formally recognized as a sport, e-sports is expected to grow at 30–35% CAGR, reaching $1 billion by 2033. With over 150 million active gamers in India, the ecosystem is fast becoming the bridge between traditional sport, entertainment, and tech.
If India’s sports economy is to truly cross $40 billion, three things must happen:
- The Indian Women’s League (IWL) must expand and professionalize, offering longer seasons and better pay structures.
- Domestic leagues must adopt sustainable business models, balancing central revenue with local monetization.
- OTT platforms must unlock regional value, creating localized content ecosystems in vernacular languages.
Cricket may have built the foundation, but digital India is building the skyscraper.
From kabaddi in Haryana to e-sports in Hyderabad, and from apparel in Meerut to AI-driven analytics in Bengaluru sport in India is no longer a one-channel game. It’s a $40 billion national project connecting policy, technology, and ambition. As 2025 closes, the scoreboard reads clear:
India isn’t just playing catch-up anymore. It’s building the playbook.
