RedBird Capital Partners, a foreign company, has bought 15 percent ownership of IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals. The news agency, Reuters did not tell about the money they paid for the partial ownership. However, according to a website called SportsPro Media, the figure is 37.5 million USD. The organization also owns a part of Liverpool, the English Premier League team.
Emerging Media, a company owned by London-based Indian investor Manoj Badal, is the main owner of Rajasthan Royals, which won the IPL title in 2008. RedBird founder Jerry Cardinal and Emerging Media confirmed in a joint statement yesterday that RedBird had bought a stake in Rajasthan. Due to this investment by RedBird, the price of the franchise in Rajasthan is now around 250 to 300 million USD.
Badal, the owner of Rajasthan, said, “This deal shows how much the IPL is attractive. Such an investment is a testament to the global interest in the IPL and how much the world is attracted to India as a place to invest.”
Due to Covid-19, the schedule of this tournament has become chaotic in the last two years, otherwise, the tournament is usually held in April-May. And for the broadcast of this two-month tournament alone, the Indian broadcaster Star Sports has signed a 5-year IPL contract (2018-2022) for around 16,348 crore Indian rupee.
However, last year’s IPL was also hampered like any other business in the world due to Covid-19. According to financial consultancy Duff & Phelps, the brand value of the IPL fell by about 3.6 percent to 619 crores USD last year due to Covid-19. The value of Rajasthan Royals have also come down. Their brand value fell by 8 percent to Rs. 249 crores.
However, Emerging Media, the owner of Rajasthan, said in a statement released yesterday that despite selling 15 percent to RedBird, they had recently increased their ownership in Rajasthan from 51 percent to 65 percent.
RedBird, who joined as co-owner of Rajasthan Royal recently, joined Liverpool’s parent company Fenway Sports Group (FSG) last April. The RedBird also owns the lion’s share of the French league team Toulouse.
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