New Delhi: The Indian Premier League 2026 is off to a blockbuster start after witnessing the biggest-ever opening weekend in the history of the tournament.

The first two games entertained the fans with high-scoring games as all four franchises crossed the 200+mark. Both Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Mumbai Indians (MI) chased down 200+ targets comfortably in their respective games to kick off the 19th edition of the cash-rich tournament with a bang.

The high-octane opening matches powered the opening weekend of the 2026 edition to new peaks in terms of viewership on both broadcast channels on television (Star Sports Network) and the live-streaming on the OTT platform (JioHotstar).

Thanks to the two high-scoring fixtures, IPL 2026 recorded a combined reach of over 515 million on linear TV and digital.

High-engaging audience clock combined watch-time of 32.6 billion minutes

With both games providing non-stop entertainment with run-fests on back-to-back days, the audience was glued to the TV and mobile screens. Driven by the engaging and entertaining action, the audience clocked a combined watch-time of 32.6 billion minutes, up by 26 per cent over the last edition’s opening two matches.

Besides the high-octane action on the ground, the official broadcast has also upped its game a notch by combining expert analysis with a watch-along format, which offers a fresh and innovative dimension to the way spectators enjoy live cricket.

The IPL 2026 is destined to break more records in what promises to be a blockbuster 19th edition, which will run from 28 March to 31 May across 13 venues and 74 matches.

RCB, the defending champions and Punjab Kings (PBKS), previous year’s beaten finalists, both opened their respective campaigns with contrasting wins. While the Bengaluru franchise registered a dominant six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on the inaugural day at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, PBKS defeated the 2022 champions, Gujarat Titans (GT), by three wickets on Tuesday in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.