NEW DELHI (AP) — American investors are making a big move into Indian cricket, with two separate billion-dollar deals made on the same day for teams in the country's most popular sports league.
No team in the Indian Premier League — one of Asia's most-watched sports events — had ever sold for more than $1 billion until a consortium backed by U.S. businessmen Kal Somani and Rob Walton — the former Walmart chairman — agreed Tuesday to buy the Rajasthan Royals in a deal that Indian media valued at $1.63 billion.
That record only lasted hours, though, as an even bigger deal was announced the same day for reigning champion Royal Challengers Bengaluru. That team was bought for $1.78 billion by another consortium that includes U.S. billionaire David Blitzer's Bolt Ventures and American asset manager Blackstone.
The two deals highlight the increasing allure of India's national pastime among international investors looking to be part of the most popular sport in the world's populous country.
“It’s mind-boggling numbers," Indian cricketing great Sourav Ganguly told local reporters. “But great news for Indian cricket and the way forward. I think it’s already as big as the NBA.”
The valuations for the two teams mark a huge jump from their original 2008 sales, when liquor baron Vijay Mallya purchased RCB for $111.6 million and Rajasthan sold for $67 million.
Sports teams overall have become a major target of global investments, as businesses try to tap into new markets abroad and spending from their fan bases. Deloitte analysts wrote in an outlook published last month that the industry is “entering an age of expansion” — and that private equity deals across sports leagues have jumped in recent years.
The IPL, which only runs three months a year, features the sport's shortest format — called Twenty20 — and has developed into cricket's hottest property. In 2022, the broadcast rights for the 2023-27 cycle were bought for $6.4 billion by Disney Star and Reliance Viacom18. Disney has since exited its India business and the two entities together formed JioStar in 2025.
In a statement, Blitzer described the IPL as “one of the great growth stories in global sport.”
In 2021, the league was expanded from eight to 10 teams and the two new franchises, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, sold for $670 million and $940 million, respectively.
In comparison, the London Spirit team of the British cricket league The Hundred was valued in 2025 at $370 million — the highest for any team in that tournament — when its partial stake was up for sale last year.
“Over the past two decades, the IPL has morphed to become a global sporting powerhouse that has changed the face of Indian cricket, creating enormous value for India,” said Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla Group, which is part of the consortium that includes Blitzer. “RCB, as one of the most compelling franchises in modern sport, offers us a distinctive platform to extend our legacy into the arena of global sport.”
The 2025 title was RCB's first, but the celebrations turned tragic when at least 11 people died in a deadly crowd crush at the team’s stadium.
The new ownership consortium will bring in a reformed management team for RCB. Aditya Birla director Aryaman Vikram Birla will serve as chairman, while Satyan Gajwani of the Times of India Group will take on the role of vice chairman.
Blitzer already has ownerships stakes in the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, the NHL's New Jersey Devils and the Premier League's Crystal Palace, among a slew of other teams.
For Rajasthan, Somani was an existing shareholder and moved to take full control of the franchise in a deal that still needs approval from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Indian media reported. The Arizona-based tech entrepreneur is also one of the founders of Motor City Golf Club in the TGL league co-founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
The 81-year-old Walton is the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, and is an owner of the NFL’s Denver Broncos.
While the IPL’s current valuations still fall well shy of the top global sports franchises in other sports, like the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys or soccer's Real Madrid, there is still room to grow.
Cricket made a foray into the U.S. market with the 2024 T20 World Cup — won by India — and the sport will return to American shores at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
Times Group, another of RCB’s new co-owners, is already heavily invested in the American cricket market. It owns Willow, which primarily broadcasts all major cricket matches — including the IPL — in the U.S.
Walmart, meanwhile, has key interests in India. It acquired a majority stake in e-commerce giant Flipkart in 2018, and also controls PhonePe, the leading digital payments platform among other business interests.
There is also a connection between the IPL and Major League Cricket — a T20 competition that began in 2023 and has six teams: in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas and Washington, D.C.
The MLC is run with the blessings of IPL’s franchises – Chennai Super Kings owns the Texas franchise, while Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians own the Los Angeles and New York teams, respectively. The league is expected to grow to eight teams in 2027, with Arizona being a prime contender for one of the new franchises.
__ AP business writer Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York contributed to this report.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
FILE - Royal Challengers Bangalore's Virat Kohli plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals in Bengaluru, India, April 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA has finally decided to consider expanding past its current 30-team footprint, with the league's owners voting Wednesday to start exploring the process of adding franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle.
It was not a surprise move; expansion has been a consideration for years, and it's been clear for some time that those two cities — both with longstanding ties to the NBA — are the ones that are now a significant step closer toward joining the league.
Las Vegas, the league's summer home for years and site of the first NBA Cup championship games, has been clamoring for an NBA team since at least the late 1990s, if not even longer. And Seattle has been waiting for the SuperSonics to return for nearly two decades.
The ball is essentially now in their courts.
“I think Seattle and Las Vegas, in terms of their history and support of NBA basketball, are unique in terms of available markets in the U.S. right now," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. "No knock on any other markets. Those are just the markets we’re focused on.”
What the league's board of governors voted to approve is being called an exploration of “potential team expansion.” Prospective ownership groups will now be tasked with putting together their bids and plans in an effort to prove to the league that they're worthy of owning NBA franchises.
Expansion is not guaranteed, Silver reiterated. The league could add no teams, one team or two teams. And there was discussion of what adding teams will mean both economically and on the court; stockpiling two new clubs with players means existing teams will lose some talent in that process.
“There are some owners who felt that we just frankly don’t need to expand," Silver said. "They didn’t necessarily seem concerned going forward, but they felt we’re at a very solid place with the 30-team league we have now.”
The league said investment bank PJT Partners has been brought on “as a strategic adviser to evaluate prospective markets, ownership groups, arena infrastructure, and the broader economic implications of expansion.”
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson applauded the vote, saying “the time is right.”
Seattle had an NBA team from 1967 through 2008, when the Sonics — who won the 1979 title — left to become the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Various groups have lobbied to bring the team — or a team — back ever since.
“Bringing the Sonics back is a top priority, and the state will be a strong partner in this effort," Ferguson said. "I plan to be there at tipoff with thousands of fellow fans when the Sonics return.”
Las Vegas has been part of the league for decades. The NBA’s Summer League is held in Las Vegas each year and has become a can’t-miss event for league executives, coaches, media, agents and even players who aren’t taking part in the games.
And the city used to play host to the occasional regular-season game; for example, in 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers broke the league’s career scoring record in a game against the Utah Jazz — who used Las Vegas for some of their home games at that time.
The idea of putting a franchise there might have seemed unlikely a couple of decades ago. Not anymore, especially not with the NFL’s Raiders, the NHL’s Golden Knights and the WNBA’s Aces all already there and with Major League Baseball on the way.
“Today’s vote by the NBA Board of Governors is a testament to the incredible growth we’re seeing in Southern Nevada and our state’s business-friendly environment,” Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo said. “Las Vegans have already shown unwavering support for our professional sports franchises, and a new NBA team will provide even more entertainment, more jobs, and more small business growth for the region.”
Now that this step is complete, there are many issues to decide. A partial list:
— The expansion fee, which is expected to be at least $6 billion.
— The timeline for adding the clubs. It seems like the 2028-29 season would almost certainly be the earliest that could happen.
— The ripple effect. If both Las Vegas and Seattle get teams, they would certainly be in the Western Conference. To avoid having 17 teams in one conference and 15 in the other, the league would look to move a current West team into the Eastern Conference. Geographically, New Orleans, Memphis or Minnesota would be the most logical candidates to move into the East.
New Orleans guard Dejounte Murray was 11 years old when Seattle last had an NBA team. He grew up with hopes of being like Gary Payton, Ray Allen and Shawn Kemp, and even remembers a rookie who played for the SuperSonics named Kevin Durant.
“It’s a basketball city, basketball culture, so it’s mandatory I think that they get it back over there,” said Murray, a Seattle native.
Added Orlando's Paolo Banchero, another Seattle native: “I think it’s been a long time coming for the city. I think everybody was pretty bummed out when they left. And since then, it’s just been waiting and hoping that one day they will come back. I’m sure with the news, everybody’s excited. I know I’m excited for all the kids growing up because Seattle’s a really big basketball city.”
Golden State coach Steve Kerr said the SuperSonics were “one of the iconic franchises in the NBA.”
“I was shocked when the league left Seattle,” Kerr said. "Incredible fan base. Great basketball market. A ton of talent coming from Seattle. Top 10 media market. Incredible sports city. So, it was kind of shocking to all of us when the league left Seattle. And I think we all hoped it would be a lot sooner than 18, 19 years, whatever it’s going to be, before they got back in the league.
“They belong in that city, and a team belongs there,” he added. “Those fans deserve it.”
AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney and AP Sports Writers Schuyler Dixon in Dallas and Joe Reedy in Cleveland contributed to this report.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
NBA commissioner Adam Silver greets NBA referee Ashley Moyer-Gleich as he arrives for an NBA basketball game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Utah Jazz, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
