Diageo plc, the owners Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), are aiming to sell their the Indian Premier League (IPL) team. According to a Economic Times report Diageo plc, which owns the IPL franchise through its India unit, United Spirits Ltd., have valued the team at $2 billion.
Bloomberg too has reported that the British distiller is exploring the opportunity to sell a part or all of its stake in the team.
RCB won the IPL for the first time this year when they beat Punjab Kings in the final played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on June 3.
The Economic Times report states that the move by Diageo plc to sell its stakes comes at a time when the Indian government is pushing hard to stop the promotion of tobacco and alcohol in the league.
In March Livemint reported that RCB overtook Chennai Super Kings to become the most followed IPL franchise on Instagram. As things stand they have close to 22 million followers on the social media platform. The team also boasts of having Virat Kohli on its roster. Kohli, regarded as one of the best batters of his generation, is the third-most followed athlete on Instagram. The superstar cricketer has 274 million followers on Instagram and only ranks behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in this list.
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RCB was first setup by Indian business tycoon Vijaya Mallya in 2008. Mallya was also the owner of now defunct Kingfishers Airline. According to a January 2008 article on ESPNCRICINFO the billionaire’s UB Group bought the franchise for $111.6 million in 2008, when the first-ever auctions of the IPL teams took place. It was the second-most expensive franchise at the time behind Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance-owned Mumbai Indians, which was bought for $111.9 million.
The team’s ownership changed in 2012 when Diageo bought the UB Group.
In 2023 RCB setup its women’s teams in order to participate in the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL). The team won its maiden WPL title last year under the captaincy of Smriti Mandhana.
The team plays its home games in the IPL at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Prakhar Sachdeo
The Sportz Planet Desk
