The Indian Premier League is one of the most successful sports leagues not only in India but in the entire world. The revenue that the T20 tournament makes every year is staggering and soon it will overtake even the best leagues in the world like NBA, NFL and UEFA Champions League in terms of annual profit.
However, none of this would have been possible without the owners of the IPL teams who have made magnanimous investments into the tournament and with it, the future of Indian cricket.
In this article, we shall be talking about the Owners of each IPL team as they are after all the pillars of the tournament.
1. Chennai Super Kings – India Cements
The Chennai Super Kings franchise was originally sold to India Cements during the commencement of the Indian Premier League in 2008 for a term of 10 years and the franchise was later transferred to a separate entity called Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd. due to a controversial rule that BCCI changed. However, India Cements still holds majority stakes in Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd. and thus they can rightfully be referred to as the owners of the Franchise.
The company is headed by former ICC chairman N. Srinivasan and he takes the important administrative decisions of the club. It is he whom we often see sitting at CSK’s table at the Auctions making bids and at important gatherings representing the team. Although many think of him as the owner of the team, it is actually the India Cements company that owns CSK.
2. Mumbai Indians – Reliance Industries
The Mumbai Indians franchise was sold to Reliance Industries Ltd. back in 2008. The famous Indian company acquired the franchise for a then record amount of $111.9 Million.
Although the Company is owned by Mukesh Ambani, many are of the opinion that his wife Mrs. Nita Ambani is the actual head of the Mumbai Indians franchise. Nita Ambani was made a board member of Reliance Industries Ltd. in 2014. She is also the founder and chairperson of Reliance foundation and is a well known philanthropist.
The franchise, however, belongs to Reliance Industries Ltd. and not to any particular Ambani family member. However, we often see Mukesh Ambani, Nita Ambani and their children in the stadiums witnessing the live matches. They are pretty active supporters of the team.
3. Kolkata Knight Riders – Red Chillies Entertainment and Mehta Group
Kolkata Knight Riders is owned by Red Chillies Entertainment (55%) which is headed by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Mehta Group (45%) which is owned by Jay Mehta and his wife, former Bollywood star Juhi Chawla.
The Knight Riders Group also own a major stake in Caribbean Premier League team Trinbago Knight Riders and South African T20 team Cape Town Knight Riders. They have also made a major investment in America’s T20 league – Major League Cricket and are reportedly interested in acquiring a franchise in England’s ‘The Hundred’ league as well.
Shah Rukh Khan is also very supportive of his team and he tries to watch as many live games of KKR as possible.
4. Royal Challengers Bangalore – United Spirits
Royal Challengers Bangalore is owned by United Spirits Ltd. It was Billionaire Vijay Mallya who bought the franchise back in 2008 for $111.6. He had major stakes in United Spirits back then which he had to sell after all the financial mess that he had to go through.
However, United Spirits are still the owners of the Company. It is a beverage company and in fact the team is named after their alcoholic beverage Royal Challenge. Hina Nagarajan is the CEO of United Spirits as of today. She was appointed to the post in 2021.
5. Rajasthan Royals – Emerging Media
Rajasthan Royals is owned by Emerging Media (65%) which is headed by Manoj Badale, RedBird Capital Partners (15%) and Lachlan Murdoch (13%).
The franchise was initially bought by Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty and his husband Raj Kundra in 2008 but after the franchise was banned for 2 years and Raj Kundra was banned for lifetime by the Lodha Committee in 2015 based on betting charges, the company was passed on to Emerging Media.
Manoj Badale is considered to be the head of the franchise as of now as he holds majority stocks. It is he who we see in the IPL auctions and business meetings representing the team.
6. Punjab Kings – Preity Zinta and Mohit Burman
Punjab Kings is owned by Dabur Group’s Mohit Burman (46%), Wadia Group’s Ness Wadia (23%), Bollywood star Preity Zinta (23%) , Dey & Dey Group’s Saptarshi Dey and Karan Paul. It is the core group that even bought the franchise back in 2008.
Although Preity Zinta is widely regarded as the owner of Punjab Kings due to her popularity and availability with the team in every single match, in reality Mohit Burman holds majority stake in the franchise.
The team was earlier called Kings XI Punjab and its name was recently changed to Punjab Kings.
7. Delhi Capitals – JSW Group and GMR Group
GMR Group were the original owners of Delhi Capitals, or as it was then called, Delhi Daredevils. They bought the franchise for $84 Million back in 2008.
In 2018, GMR group sold 50% of the franchise’s stakes to JSW Group for $73 Million and the team was then renamed to Delhi Capitals.
Grandhi Kiran Kumar is the CEO of the GMR Group while Prashant Jain is the CEO of JSW Group. However, it is JSW Group’s Parth Jindal who mainly manages Delhi Capitals.
8. Sunrisers Hyderabad – Sun Group
Sunrisers Hyderabad were not a core IPL team to begin with. Deccan Chargers were terminated in 2012 due to prolonged financial issues and they were replaced by the SRH franchise. They debuted in 2013.
Kalanithi Maran, head of the Sun Group bought the franchise for about $11 Million.
The Sun Group is famous for their Sun TV Network and they have several other investments in different ventures. Kalanithi Maran’s daughter Kaviya Maran is often seen cheering the team in the stadiums and last year she went crazily viral.
9. Lucknow SuperGiants – RPSG Group
The BCCI added two new franchises to the Indian Premier League starting from IPL 2022 and the auction for the same was organized in 2021.
Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG Group made the record breaking bid of 7090 Crore rupees and acquired the Lucknow Franchise. It has been named Lucknow SuperGiants which is very similar to Rising Pune SuperGiants, Goenka’s first IPL team that played for 2 years.
Sanjiv Goenka is one of the leading businessmen of India. He has been pretty open regarding his interest in Cricket for a long time.
10. Ahmedabad franchise – CVC Capitals
While Sanjiv Goenka bought the Lucknow franchise, the Ahmedabad franchise was won by CVC Capitals with a bid of 5625 Crore rupees.
CVC Capitals is a British private equity and investment advisory firm and they had to go through many rigid financial barriers before being able to invest in the franchise. John Clarke is the managing partner and CEO of CVC Capitals.
Also Read:- TATA IPL 2022: 5 Players who were unsold in IPL 2021 but can earn big bucks in the Mega Auction
