The rising valuation of IPL franchises and the recent acquisition of Royal Challengers Bengaluru took centre stage at the “Inside the Room: How sport’s biggest deals get done” session during the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit powered by Leaders in Bengaluru.
The session featured Rahul Saraf, Head of Investment Banking at Citi Bank, and Sandeep Agrawal, Head, Group Corporate Finance at Aditya Birla Group, who shared insights into the record-breaking RCB deal and the larger growth story surrounding Indian sports franchises.
The discussion explored the recent acquisition of RCB by a consortium comprising Aditya Birla Group, Blitzer-led global investors, Blackstone and Times Group, while also examining why IPL franchises continue to attract significant global investor interest.
Speaking about the factors driving IPL franchise valuations, Sandeep Agrawal highlighted the importance of media rights and broadcasting revenues in the league’s 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.
Addressing concerns around long-term sustainability, he added, “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.”
Agrawal also compared IPL’s scale with global sports leagues, stating, “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.”
Rahul Saraf spoke about the unprecedented level of investor interest generated during the RCB transaction process.
“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.
Highlighting the scarcity value associated with IPL teams, he added, “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.”
The panel also discussed how the growth of the IPL ecosystem could positively impact other sports in India through greater corporate investments and rising fan engagement.
Speaking about the future of sports in India, Rahul Saraf said, “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.”
Sandeep Agrawal further added that India’s improving performances and evolving sports culture are laying the foundation for long-term growth across multiple sporting disciplines.
“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,” he concluded.
