That low graded league only had brought some hidden talents into the IPL and Indian mix. One of such talent went on to represent India in all three formats and another one of the talent was on the verge of representing India and had missed the opportunity owing to injury. In case if you are wondering who I'm talking about, they are Natarajan and Varun Chakravarty. Of course there are plenty other players who had broken into the IPL mixes owing their performances in the league..
BTW, don't get me wrong here, I'm just giving the facts here as you have asked who were watching it... the 2018 edition had 44 million viewers which is equal to what Sony is reporting for EURO Cup.