IPL: Virat Kohli's RCB up for sale with high valuation as first-time champs

The ownership pattern of IPL teams is set to see a change after a fair interval, with reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) being put up for sale by the Indian subsidiary of leading alcohol beverage company Diageo, which has notified the Bombay Stock Exchange on 5 November that it is putting up the company which owns the IPL and WPL teams for sale after a ‘Strategic Review of the Investment in Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd. (RCSPL)'. The intimation by the UK-headquartered company said it aims to complete the transactions by 31 March 2026.

This poses a few uneasy questions about auction planning and the season ahead for the two teams — though the buzz is they could well be close to a deal for a change of hands which allows United Spirits Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of Diageo, to divest its shares.

The names of a number of interested parties are in the air, with the Adani Group's longtime ambition of owning an IPL team coming up too. The need for deep pockets is obvious, since the franchise’s valuation must have soared from the $1 billion in 2022 given its maiden IPL title this year.

However, there is also talk of a number of corporates with strong Bengaluru connections, like Adar Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India; Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, and Ranjan Pai, chairman of the Manipal Education and Medical Group, doing the rounds.

Adar had earlier hinted at interest in the team when in an X post on 1 October: “At the right valuation, @RCBTweets is a great team…

The 2025 season has seen the best and worst of RCB’s fortunes. While the #PlayBold Army, which had Virat Kohli as its face all along, ended an 18-year drought to win the league on 3 June, its public perception took an irreparable hit thanks to the tragic 4 June stampede where 11 people lost their lives. Talk of the franchise being up for sale began soon after, as the owners must have also sensed it would be the right time to exit the property with its valuation at a high. 

The official line taken by the owners is that they would like to divest themselves of cricket, their non-core business area. Praveen Someswar, managing director and CEO of USL, has been quoted as saying: ‘’RCSPL has been a valuable and strategic asset for USL. However, it is non-core to our alcohol business. This step reinforces USL’s and Diageo’s commitment to continue reviewing their India enterprise portfolio to enable sustained delivery of long-term value to all stakeholders, while keeping RCSPL’s best interests in mind.’’

Meanwhile, Forbes lists Poonawalla’s net worth at over $20 billion, while Pai and Kamath are reported to be worth $2.8 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively. A recent report by investment firm Houlihan Lokey estimates the IPL’s overall business value at $18.5 billion and brand value at $3.9 billion in 2025. RCB leads the pack with a brand value of $269 million, the highest among 10 franchises.