IPL Franchises Race Towards $15 Billion Valuations

Kolkata Knight Riders, owned by the Shah Rukh Khan family and the Mehta Group, emerged as the most valuable franchise.

The average franchise valuation in the Indian Premier League is projected to reach $15 billion by 2032, up sharply from $1.8 billion in 2026, according to Fanatic Sports and Hurun India's Most Valuable Sports Teams 2026 report.

The report said average IPL franchise valuations have risen steadily since the league's inception, climbing from $0.1 billion in 2008.

It added that IPL franchise values are expected to narrow the gap with America's National Football League (NFL), currently the world's most valuable sports league.

Average NFL franchise valuations stood at $1 billion in 2008 and have grown to $7.1 billion in 2026. They are expected to reach $29.8 billion by 2032, the report said.

Among Indian sports leagues, Kolkata Knight Riders, owned by the Shah Rukh Khan family and Mehta Group, emerged as the most valuable franchise.

The three-time IPL champion is valued between Rs 19,200 crore and Rs 22,500 crore in 2026, compared to Rs 300 crore at inception.

Mumbai Indians, owned by Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, ranked second with a valuation of Rs 18,400 crore to 21,700 crore. The five-time IPL champion was valued at Rs 448 crore at inception.

Chennai Super Kings, owned by the N Srinivasan family, and Sunrisers Hyderabad, owned by the Sun TV Group, ranked third and fourth, respectively.

CSK is valued at Rs 18,400-Rs 20,700 crore, while SRH is valued at Rs 17,500 crore-Rs 18,400 crore.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru ranked fifth with a valuation of Rs 16,700 crore.

The Top Earners

Among the top individual earners in the IPL are Virat Kohli, who leads all-time IPL earnings with Rs 230.2 crore across 18 seasons, followed by Rohit Sharma with Rs 227.2 crore and M S Dhoni with Rs 200.3 crore.

The three players have each exceeded $25 million in single-league career earnings.

Among women, Smriti Mandhana leads Women's Premier League (WPL) cumulative earnings at Rs 13.7 crore. In just four WPL seasons, the top 10 players have collectively earned more than Rs 90 crore, the report observed.

The report also highlighted the growing scale of sports ownership portfolios in India. The GMR Group leads with 10 teams across three sports and three continents, making it the largest sports portfolio among Indian owners.

The JSW Group follows with seven teams and is the only owner present across four sports -- cricket, football, kabaddi, and hockey.

Reliance Industries and the Shah Rukh Khan family with Mehta Group own multiple cricket franchises across five countries.

RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group and Sun TV Group have expanded their IPL brands internationally through SA20 in South Africa and The Hundred in England respectively.

Meanwhile, the Adani family and Capri Sports have diversified into emerging domestic leagues, including kho-kho and women's cricket.

IPL Investors Score Massive Returns

The report said institutional investors have generated substantial returns through investments in Indian sports franchises.

Following the sale of Rajasthan Royals, Lachlan Murdoch achieved a 92.1x return, while Blenheim Chalcot cofounder Manoj Badale and RedBird Capital Partners realised returns of 24.3x and 7.8x respectively.

United Spirits (Diageo) secured a 37.2x return through the RCB sale.

Earlier this month, RR was acquired by a consortium led by Lakshmi Mittal and Adar Poonawalla at a valuation of $1.65 billion.

In March 2026, RCB was sold to a consortium led by the Aditya Birla Group, alongside The Times Group, Bolt Ventures, and Blackstone, valuing the franchise at $1.78 billion.

Newer franchises, however, remain in the early stages of value creation. CVC Capital Partners' Gujarat Titans delivered a relatively modest 1.3x return multiple, reflecting the franchise's early growth phase.

Torrent Group acquired a majority stake in GT in February last year.

The report covers six professional leagues and tracks more than 1,300 athletes across cricket, football, kabaddi, hockey, volleyball and women's cricket.

'India is becoming a sports-embracing nation,' Raghav Gupta, founder and CEO of Fanatic Sports, said. 'Home to 17.8 per cent of the world's population, India will not just participate in the global sporting economy -- it will reshape it.'

,P> 'The business of sport here is becoming its own asset class, with its own audiences, its own economics, and its own heroes,' Gupta added.

According to Anas Rahman Junaid, founder and chief researcher at Hurun India, there is strong interest among large business families in acquiring teams in the WPL, India's second-most valuable sports league, because they expect valuations to rise sharply.

When discretionary income doubles, Junaid added spending on sports -- including tickets, merchandise, over-the-top subscriptions, fantasy platforms, fan travel, and youth academies -- does not grow linearly; it compounds.

The democratisation of Indian sport, Junaid said, would create a 'triple multiplier effect'.

India's per-capita income has crossed the $2,500 inflection point that economists associate with the shift from essential to discretionary spending.

It is projected to approach $5,000 by 2030, with an estimated 165 million Indians expected to earn more than $10,000 a year.

The combined valuation of all 10 IPL franchises stands at Rs 1.63 trillion ($18 billion).

Across six leagues, 59 teams hold 763 brand sponsorship partnerships, with the IPL alone accounting for 307, averaging 13 brand partners per franchise.

• IPL 2026
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Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff