India, April 2 -- IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal has boldly defended the unprecedented valuation of the tournament and rejected that the league media rights sale was a peak. There have been concerns raised in the industry about the possibility that the IPL media rights sales have hit a plateau. Speculations have raised whether the next auction can top the record-breaking 48,390 crore ($6. 2 billion) set in 2022 as the current 2023 to 2027 rights cycle is in its penultimate year. 

Dhumal dismissed the fears, pointing out that the IPL is still a "live entertainment product" in a class of its own that goes beyond the traditional media. He indicated that, in contrast to movies, which are said to be losing value after the first release, the ev...