IPL franchise prices hit billions
Two fresh franchise sales pushed IPL valuations into rarefied territory: Royal Challengers Bengaluru reportedly sold for $1.78 billion (about ₹16,706 crore) and Rajasthan Royals for $1.63 billion (about ₹15,280 crore). The transactions were reported as among the most expensive team sales in world sport. (timesnownews.com)
Indian Premier League team prices have crossed the billion-dollar line, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals both changing hands in March 2026. (adityabirla.com) Royal Challengers Bengaluru was sold on March 24, 2026, in a deal valuing the franchise at ₹166.6 billion, or about $1.78 billion, and the package included both the men’s Indian Premier League team and the women’s Women’s Premier League team. The buyers were Aditya Birla Group, The Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures and Blackstone, and the seller was United Spirits, a Diageo subsidiary. (adityabirla.com) Rajasthan Royals were sold the next day for about $1.635 billion, or roughly ₹15,290 crore, to a United States-based consortium led by Kal Somani. ESPNcricinfo reported the group bid for full ownership, making it another complete control sale rather than a small stake deal. (espn.com) Those prices landed less than two weeks before the 2026 season and reset the market for a league that began in 2008. Rajasthan Royals were originally bought for $67 million in the league’s first auction, a gap that shows how far franchise values have moved in 18 years. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) The money behind these deals starts with television and streaming. The Board of Control for Cricket in India sold Indian Premier League media rights for 2023 through 2027 for ₹48,390.32 crore, a five-year haul that underpins team revenues across the league. (iplt20.com) Independent valuation work had already pointed in the same direction before the sales. Houlihan Lokey said in July 2025 that the Indian Premier League’s business value had risen to $18.5 billion, up 12.9%, and that Royal Challengers Bengaluru had become the league’s most valuable franchise. (hl.com) The league’s structure also helps explain why investors are paying private-equity prices for cricket teams. Revenue from central media and sponsorship pools is shared, while roster spending is capped through a fixed player purse that stood at ₹120 crore for the 2025 auction. (iplt20.com) That combination has drawn buyers from outside cricket. In the Bengaluru deal, the incoming owners include one of India’s biggest conglomerates, a major media group and Blackstone; in the Rajasthan deal, reported backers included investors linked to Walmart and the National Football League’s Detroit Lions ownership family. (blackstone.com) (financialexpress.com) Both transactions still required approvals from cricket and regulatory authorities when they were announced. Even so, the March 2026 deals put Indian Premier League teams in the same pricing conversation as top clubs in much older sports leagues. (adityabirla.com) (timesnownews.com)
