Premiums for premier league

When Royal Challengers Bengaluru changed hands for ₹16,600cr in March, followed by Rajasthan Royals at Rs 15,100cr, the cricket world gasped. Two franchises sold for nearly five times the original price of all eight IPL teams combined. IPL now commands a place alongside NFL and NBA, in global sports league valuations. How does a cricket tournament, operating merely 8-10 weeks annually, command such valuations? The answer lies in the convergence of media, technology, consumer behaviour, and financial engineering – these define IPL today.

Global benchmarks offer a sobering comparison. Average valuation of NFL teams exceeds $7bn, with media rights contributing roughly $312mn annually per franchise, a 22x valuation multiple. Apply that logic to IPL, where media rights average ₹484cr per team, and you would expect ₹10,600cr. Yet, recent deals hover around ₹16,000cr.
CVC Capital’s exit from Gujarat Titans in Feb 2025, at a ₹7,500cr valuation (13x revenues), was aligned with global norms. At the time, Gujarat Titans was a new team – it was set up only in 2022 – and hence was still loss making. On the other hand, profit-making RCB was able to close the deal at 22-25x revenues, and over 100x net profit, astronomical when compared to Nifty, which trades at 21x.

So what justifies the leap?

First, an IPL team is a scarce commodity. It took 14 years to add two teams to the original roster. We have now reached a ceiling, taking into account the already stretched international cricketing schedule. Unless we find a way around that, and the IPL tournament window itself gets enhanced, the number of teams will have to remain ten. This elevates existing franchises to ‘rare’ status, with many chasing a few.

Second, the institutionalisation of ownership has been transformative, resulting in re-pricing the asset class. Entry of high-quality bidders like Birlas, Jains of Times Of India, Blackstone, and Bolt ventures into IPL teams brings governance benchmarks, analytical rigour, and capital at scale. The passion premium that an individual promoter was willing to pay, is now replaced by complex financial modelling of an institutional investor.

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