RCB will get a new owner before the next IPL season.Image Credit source: PTI
RCB Sale: The current IPL and former WPL champion Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise is going to be sold. The current owner of RCB is exiting this franchise and has announced to sell it. A report has revealed that the sale process of RCB, one of the first 8 franchises of IPL, has started and this process is expected to be completed before the next IPL season. That is, the current owner of the franchise hopes that RCB will get its new owner before March 2026, who will run this franchise in IPL and WPL.
Sale process started, will end by March 2026
There were rumors for the last few weeks regarding the sale of Royal Challengers Bangalore, which has been active since the first season of IPL and some big business houses had also shown interest in it. But then it was just speculation but now the current owner of the franchise, Diageo itself has announced this. A Cricbuzz report has revealed that Diageo, in a letter sent to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), said that its subsidiary United Spirits Limited (USL) has started a strategic review in the franchise.
The RCB franchise in IPL and WPL is run by Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited Company (RCSPL), which is owned by USL. USL itself is an Indian subsidy of British company Diageo. In such a situation, Diageo informed BSE that USL has started the review of its investment in RCSPL and it expects that this process will be completed by March 31, 2026. It is clear from this disclosure by Diageo that the franchise may get a new owner before the WPL 2026 or IPL 2026 season.
Mallya had bought RCB franchise in 2008
When BCCI announced the start of IPL in 2008, bids were invited for franchises from 8 cities. In this, Bengaluru’s bid was won by famous businessman Vijay Mallya. He had then bought this franchise for 111.6 million dollars i.e. about Rs 600-700 crore at that time. At that time it was the second most expensive team in IPL history. Mallya was the owner of United Spirits at that time. However, in 2013, Diageo had acquired the largest stake in USL and in 2014, with more than 54 percent shareholding, the entire ownership came into the hands of Diageo and since then it was playing an important role in the management of the franchise.
Lalit Modi told the price, names of these claimants came
RCB had won its first trophy with the WPL title in 2024 and then in the 18th season, it had the privilege of winning the IPL for the first time in 2025. Lalit Modi, who started this league just a few weeks after RCB became IPL champion, had made a shocking claim that preparations are being made to sell the franchise and its price could be 2 billion to 2.5 billion dollars i.e. more than Rs 17 thousand crores.
During this time, the name of Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawala was also leading in this race and he had also said in a tweet that RCB would be a good team at the right price. Apart from Poonawala, names of some other contenders including JSW Sports have also come forward in recent times for the purchase of the franchise.