The IPL 12 teams plan is back on the table, with the BCCI reportedly exploring an expansion of the Indian Premier League from 10 teams to 12 from the 2028 season. A report in Mint says Pune and Vadodara have emerged as the leading cities for the two new franchises, and each new team could be valued at more than $1 billion. The discussions are at an early stage, and the board has not announced any decision.
The timing lines up with the next media rights cycle, which will run from 2028 to 2032. The current cycle, covering 2023 to 2027, fetched $6.2 billion, and the next cycle is expected to go higher if the league grows. The IPL 12 teams plan would give broadcasters more matches to sell, and the extra franchises would add two more home markets to the competition. The BCCI has begun preliminary talks with private equity groups about the 2028 cycle, according to the Mint report.
Pune and Vadodara are the two cities named in the report, but the final choice has not been made. Pune hosted an IPL team before, when Pune Warriors India played in the league, and the city has a stadium that has hosted international cricket. Vadodara would be the second city in Gujarat to have a franchise, alongside the Gujarat Titans, who won the title in 2022. The report says the choice of cities could still change before any official announcement.
IPL 12 teams plan and the billion-dollar valuations
The money behind the plan is large. Each new franchise could attract a valuation of more than $1 billion, or about Rs 8,800 crore, and the investors named in the report include European private equity firm Permira, sovereign wealth funds from West Asia, Asian state-backed investment firms, US-based family offices and Indian business groups. The interest shows how far the league’s commercial value has risen since it began with eight teams in 2008, and the IPL 12 teams plan would test that value again in an open bidding process.
The league has grown before. It began with eight teams in 2008, rose to 10 in 2011 with the addition of Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala, and went back to eight before the last expansion in 2022, when Lucknow and Ahmedabad joined. That expansion brought in the Lucknow Super Giants and the Gujarat Titans, and the Titans won the title in their first season. The IPL 12 teams plan would be the biggest change to the competition since that 2022 expansion.
IPL 12 teams expansion and what is still undecided
Nothing is final yet. The Mint report says the BCCI has yet to finalise the number of teams, the host cities or the timeline for inviting bids, and no final decision has been taken on the proposed expansion. The board’s plans will depend on commercial considerations, broadcaster interest and the availability of Indian players, and the report says the discussions are private. The IPL 12 teams story has been carried by several outlets, but all of them trace back to the one Mint report.
The calendar around the plan is already set for 2027. Franchises must submit their retention and release lists by 17 November 2026, player registration closes on 23 November, and the mini-auction for the 2027 season takes place in Goa on 16 December. That auction is the last mini-auction of the current cycle, and the next mega auction is expected in 2028, when the new media rights cycle begins. The IPL 12 teams plan would be decided before that auction if the board goes ahead with it.
For now, the expansion is a report, not an announcement. The BCCI has said nothing in public about new teams for 2028, and the cities, the valuations and the timing all come from the Mint report and the outlets that have followed it. The IPL 12 teams plan will stay in that form until the board speaks, and the next sign of movement will be a formal statement or the start of a bidding process.