The Board of Control for Cricket in India has ruled out expanding the Indian Premier League to 12 teams, dismissing weeks of speculation about two new franchises joining from the 2028 season.

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia addressed the reports directly on 11 November, telling news agency PTI that the board had not discussed the idea at all, formally or informally, and that expansion was not on its agenda at this stage.

What Saikia said

"We have neither discussed formally nor informally the possibility of the IPL becoming a 12-team affair in 2028," Saikia said. "It is not in our scope at this stage. We are concerned about the IPL of 2027, which is going to be the 20th edition of the IPL. So it will be a big affair. We are concerned about that and we are not considering anything beyond that."

Saikia described the expansion reports as speculative, saying there was no sanctity to them, and made clear that the board's full attention is on delivering the milestone 20th season, which begins in March 2027.

What the reports had claimed

The speculation began with reports in the Indian business press that the BCCI was in very early talks about adding two teams in time for the next media rights cycle, with Pune and Vadodara named as the likely new homes. Some reports valued each new franchise at more than $1 billion.

The current media rights deal, sold for Rs 48,390 crore in June 2022, covers the 2023 to 2027 seasons, so 2028 would be the first year of whatever comes next. That timing fuelled the suggestion that expansion could arrive with the new cycle, but Saikia's comments have now shut the idea down, at least for now.

Purse stays at Rs 125 crore

Saikia also cleared up a second rumour doing the rounds ahead of the auction window. There had been reports that the BCCI could raise the franchise salary purse from Rs 125 crore to Rs 150 crore, but the secretary said there was nothing of the sort under consideration.

"There is nothing of that sort regarding an increase in the salary purse," he said. Any change to the purse would only be considered ahead of next year's mega auction, he added.

Focus turns to the 20th season

The next auction is a mini-auction, scheduled for 16 December 2026 in Goa, to complete squad rosters for the 2027 season. It will be the last year of the current cycle, with the mega auction due the following year.

For now, the IPL stays a 10-team tournament. Saikia was careful to say "at this stage", leaving the door open for the future, but his message to fans and franchises was clear: the 2027 season, the league's 20th, is the only thing on the board's mind.