US investors bet big on Indian cricket with record billion-dollar IPL deals

Mumbai, Wednesday – American capital has crashed through the billion-dollar barrier in Indian cricket, rewriting the valuation playbook for the Indian Premier League in a single afternoon. Two separate US-backed consortia agreed on Tuesday to pay a combined $3.41 billion for Rajasthan Royals and reigning champion Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the first time any IPL franchise has crossed the ten-figure mark.

The Rajasthan Royals, champions of the inaugural 2008 season, were first to set the new benchmark when a group fronted by Arizona tech entrepreneur Kal Somani and Rob Walton, the former Walmart chairman and Denver Broncos co-owner, struck a deal worth $1.63 billion. Within hours, the record was eclipsed by an even richer transaction for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, whose new owners—Bolt Ventures, the family office of US billionaire David Blitzer, and global asset manager Blackstone—will pay $1.78 billion for the privilege.

Both transactions, still subject to approval by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, underscore the magnetic pull of the world’s most populous nation’s favourite pastime. “It’s mind-boggling numbers,” former India captain Sourav Ganguly told reporters. “But great news for Indian cricket and the way forward. I think it’s already as big as the NBA.”

The eye-watering prices represent a spectacular appreciation from the league’s 2008 launch, when liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya acquired RCB for $111.6 million and the Royals changed hands for $67 million. Since then, the IPL’s three-week sprint format, Twenty20, has become cricket’s most lucrative property. In 2022, Disney Star and Reliance Viacom18 paid $6.4 billion for global broadcast rights through 2027; the two companies merged their India streaming assets into JioStar in 2025.

Deloitte’s most recent sports-industry outlook labelled the sector “entering an age of expansion,” noting a surge in private-equity activity across leagues. The IPL has led the charge, expanding from eight to ten franchises in 2021. The newcomers—Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants—sold for $670 million and $940 million respectively, numbers that now look modest beside Tuesday’s deals.

Blitzer, whose portfolio already spans the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and Premier League club Crystal Palace, hailed the IPL as “one of the great growth stories in global sport.” He will be joined in the RCB consortium by the Aditya Birla Group and Times Group, owner of US broadcaster Willow, the primary cricket outlet in North America. Aditya Birla chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla called the franchise “one of the most compelling in modern sport,” while his 28-year-old son, Aryaman Vikram Birla, will assume the chairmanship. Times Internet vice-chairman Satyan Gajwani has been appointed vice-chairman.

For Rajasthan, Somani—already a minority stakeholder—moved to take outright control alongside Walton, 81, eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Somani, who co-owns Motor City Golf Club in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TGL venture, is expected to install a retooled front office once regulatory clearance arrives.

Even at these unprecedented levels, IPL clubs remain bargains compared with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys or La Liga’s Real Madrid. Yet analysts see runway ahead. Cricket’s 2024 T20 World Cup, held partly in the United States and won by India, drew strong diaspora crowds, and the sport will feature at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The IPL’s influence is already embedded in Major League Cricket, the six-team US competition launched in 2023. Chennai Super Kings control the Texas franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders own Los Angeles, and Mumbai Indians operate the New York side. MLC plans to add two more clubs by 2027, with Arizona viewed as a leading candidate.

Tuesday’s twin billion-dollar bets signal that American investors, flush with capital and chasing exposure to India’s 1.4 billion consumers, have identified cricket—and its marquee league—as the next frontier. Whether the valuations soar higher will depend on the IPL’s ability to keep delivering the shortest, sharpest version of a colonial game now reborn as a global commercial juggernaut.

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