IPL Franchise Valuations: Experts Discuss Investment Trends And RCB Record-breaking Deal At Summit

The record RCB franchise deal and the booming value of IPL teams were unpacked at the "Inside the Room: How sport's biggest deals get done" session during the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit powered by Leaders, where senior finance executives explained why IPL remains a magnet for capital and how that could shape Indian sports over the next decade.

Much of the debate focused on the recent acquisition of Royal Challengers Bengaluru by a consortium that included Aditya Birla Group, Blitzer-led global investors, Blackstone and Times Group, with speakers outlining what drew investors to RCB in particular and why IPL franchises are now seen as scarce, long-term assets within Indian sport.

RCB and IPL franchises attract global investors to Indian sports

Rahul Saraf, Head of Investment Banking at Citi Bank, described the intense competition around the RCB sale, saying, "We reached out to more than 100 potential investors and signed over 50 NDAs, the highest number I've seen in any auction process. People weren't just looking at numbers, they wanted to own a part of the IPL ecosystem," Saraf said, underlining the global appetite for Indian sports properties.

Saraf linked this interest to the limited supply of IPL teams, noting the premium attached to that scarcity. "It's like selling Buckingham Palace. There are only a limited number of IPL franchises with unmatched market share in Indian sport. If India continues becoming a larger consumption economy, there's only one direction these valuations can go."

Media rights, RCB valuations and the IPL-Indian sports growth story

Offering a finance perspective, Sandeep Agrawal, Head, Group Corporate Finance at Aditya Birla Group, broke down what, in his view, underpinned the price investors were prepared to pay for RCB and other IPL franchises, stressing that long-term media income, rather than short-term sponsorship deals, had become the main engine for franchise revenues in Indian sports.

Agrawal said media contracts remained central to the business model. "The biggest driver, at least in the Indian context, for IPL has been media revenues. About 70-75 percent of revenues for most franchises come from media and broadcasting revenues, and those have seen growth rates of about 18-20 percent over the last 10 years," Agrawal said, pointing to a sustained trend that investors considered when valuing teams.

Responding to doubts about whether this pace could continue, Agrawal stated that detailed projections still showed robust potential over longer periods. "We came to the conclusion that there might be one odd weak cycle, but over 10 to 15 years we would continue to see strong secular growth." This view, Saraf added, helped support confidence in the RCB deal and other IPL investments.

Agrawal then placed IPL in a global context by comparing audience numbers across leagues. "NFL has an average viewership of 18 million across 270 matches annually. IPL averages over 150 million viewers, yet IPL franchise valuations are still significantly lower. We believe this is a long-term premiumisation story for Indian sports and media consumption." The panel noted that such figures suggested further upside for RCB and other franchises.

The discussion moved beyond RCB and immediate IPL valuations to the wider impact on Indian sports, with both experts arguing that cricket’s commercial success could lift other disciplines. They said rising corporate interest, better infrastructure and stronger fan engagement would likely create spill-over effects for emerging leagues, especially as younger viewers adopt new viewing habits across platforms.

Looking ahead, Saraf set out a personal ranking of where attention and capital might flow within Indian sports. "My pecking order is men's cricket, women's cricket, football, because the next generation is very focused on football and follows the English leagues closely. And then I genuinely hope Kabaddi comes alive. It's grassroots, it's unique and people can relate to it in different ways."

Agrawal added that improved national performances and a growing sports culture were laying a durable base, saying, "For a league to be successful in India, people want to see India doing well in that sport. Football has massive interest already, women's cricket has taken off, and Kabaddi also has the opportunity to become a truly pan-India sport," indicating that the RCB deal and IPL growth were part of a broader evolution rather than an isolated event.