India, July 29 -- This year's IPL growth story was driven by franchise value appreciation with media rights value locked until IPL 2027. By the sheer scale of uptick in value of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) following their sale, IPL's business value has risen by 11.4% to $20.6 billion, and brand value by 10.3% to $4.3 billion, according to Holihan Lokey's latest study.

The sale value of RCB and RR, pending approvals, total $3.43 billion, making it more than the combined sale value of Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans ($1.69bn) during IPL's last team expansion in 2021. Subsequently, a majority stake in GT was acquired by Torrent Group in February 2025, approximately for $900mn. The 2026 RCB sale for $1...