A consortium comprising Aditya Birla Group, The Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures (David Blitzer) and a Blackstone fund has acquired Royal Challengers Bangalore, one of the most valued franchises in the Indian Premier League, for $1.8 billion, setting surging valuation benchmarks for T20 cricket franchises in India’s most watched cricket tournament.
The Rajasthan Royals franchise scored a $1.6 billion valuation in a sale to entrepreneur Kal Somani, supported by Rob Walton of Walmart and the Hamp family of Ford, both of whom own franchises in the National Football League (NFL) in the US. This marks the entry of global sports franchise owners entering Indian cricket
The valuation for RCB is more than twice the benchmark set last year when Torrent Group acquired the Gujarat Titans at a $900 million valuation, pointing to a sharp increase in valuations driven by unmatched fan engagement and advertising pull.
The acquirers of RCB will get the men’s team as well as the franchise’s team in the Women’s Premier League. For the selling party, United Spirits Limited (USL), a subsidiary of Diageo plc, the transaction represents an almost 16 times appreciation over the 2008 bid value.
Under the new ownership structure, Aryaman Vikram Birla, director, Aditya Birla Group, will serve as Chairman and Satyan Gajwani of The Times of India Group will serve as vice chairman of the franchise.
Rajasthan Royals, among the cheapest franchises at $67 million in 2008, has seen its valuation jump nearly 25x to $1.63 billion.
In 2021, Manoj Badale’s Emerging Media raised its stake in Rajasthan Royals from 51% to 65%. That same year, US-based RedBird Capital Partners bought a 15% stake for $37.5 million, valuing the franchise at about $250 million. The latest deal marks a more than sixfold jump from that benchmark.
