Who Could Be the New Owner of RCB Ahead of IPL 2026?
The RCB franchise is likely to be put up for sale ahead of the IPL 2026 season. Various companies have shown interest in buying the defending champions of the IPL. Diageo has been the owner of the team for a long time.
The RCB franchise is likely to be put up for sale ahead of the IPL 2026 season. Various companies have shown interest in buying the defending champions of the IPL. Diageo has been the owner of the team for a long time.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru team is expected to be up for sale ahead of the IPL 2026 season. This team is owned by United Spirits, which is a part of Diageo. With the company being based on a liquor brand, not to work with the IPL anymore.
After trying a number of times to sell the team, they have not been able to do it. Until now, RCB has grabbed the interest of several companies that want to acquire it. Some of the notable names in this list also include JSW Group, which holds a stake in Delhi Capitals, and Adani Group.
1. Diageo on Selling RCB
Diageo is currently the parent company of Royal Challengers Bengaluru. There are up to six companies that have shown interest in buying RCB. But the main catch in this is the choice of Diageo. Although it seems that they want to sell the team, it is still not confirmed whether they will keep it for the next few seasons or not.
If Diageo decides not to sell the team, all the interested buyers won't be able to do anything. However, at the same time, it should also be noted that Diageo has a majority of its shareholders, who are not interested in holding an IPL team. Their main business is related to liquor, and holding an IPL team
The main issue that companies are facing is the face value put by the parent company on RCB. Diageo is demanding 2 billion US dollars for the team, but it is likely that they will wait for the next media rights cycle to increase their prices. Even though the price tag with the team is high, the rapid growth of media rights valuation makes it worth it.
2. Big Names Show Interest in RCB
There are several names that have shown interest in buying the team. These include Adar Poonawalla, Parth Jindal, Adani Group, a Delhi-based billionaire with multi-sector interests, and two US-based private equity firms. Currently, these are the only names that in buying the team.
It should be noted that Serum Institute of India, which is owned by the Poonawalla group, will be in the mix of the IPL once again. Earlier in 2010, Cyrus Poonawalla tried his best to buy an IPL team. This was at the same time when Lalit Modi decided to expand the tournament. While staking for Pune, he lost to Sahara.
Later, he also staked for Kochi, but lost it too against Rendezvous. What's more interesting about this case is that both teams were declared defunct soon. Adar Poonawalla seems to be back in the IPL mix, as about the valuation of RCB in the tournament.
For the Jindal Group, it should be noted that they already have a stake in the IPL team, the Delhi Capitals. But for Delhi, the company only holds a 50% stake. They will have to sell the stake being acquired in the Delhi Capitals if they want to get the Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the next season.
Besides that, Adani Group has always wanted to own an IPL team. They have participated in numerous bidding but failed every time to get their hands on any team. The closest they came was during the IPL 2022 season, when they had almost acquired the Gujarat team.
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