The Indian Premier League is no longer just a platform for cricket. It has transformed into the world’s largest sports business platform. Each year, team valuations are reaching new heights. Amid this trend, a major deal involving the Rajasthan Royals has emerged. This has captured the attention of the entire market. RR has now passed into the hands of a new consortium in a deal valued at approximately $1.63 billion, or ₹15,282 crore.

According to reports, Rajasthan Royals has been acquired by a large international consortium led by Kal Somani. This group includes luminaries like Rob Walton, one of the world’s richest businessmen and the Hamp family. It led by Sheila Ford Hamp, who has decades of sports management experience. Over the past 15 years, Somani has founded and led ventures focused on EdTech, data privacy, AI governance, and SportsTech.

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), too, have found new buyers. Aditya Birla Group (ABG), The Times of India Group (ToI), Bolt Ventures (Bolt), and Blackstone’s perpetual private equity strategy (BXPE, Blackstone) have jointly acquired the franchise for USD 1.78 million.

Aryaman Birla will serve as the chairman and Satyan Gajwani of TOI will be the vice-chairman.

“Over the past two decades, the IPL has morphed to become a global sporting powerhouse that has changed the face of Indian cricket, creating enormous value for India. RCB, as one of the most compelling franchises in modern sport, offers the Aditya Birla Group a distinctive platform to extend its legacy of institution-building into the arena of global sport. We are delighted to become custodians of this asset and committed to further building this extraordinary legacy,” Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, said in a statement.

For more news & updates, follow The Crichub on X and YouTube