The average Indian Premier League team is worth an estimated $1.7 billion in Sportico’s inaugural IPL valuations. To derive the market value of the current franchises, Sportico calculated each team’s revenue, relying on publicly available information and financial records—and interviews with those knowledgeable of team finances, including sports bankers and investors actively involved in IPL transactions.
Below are definitions for valuation and revenue.
2026 Valuation: The sum of the current enterprise value of an IPL franchise, derived from metrics by which sports team transactions typically occur, including aggregating team revenue and league distributions and factoring in a team-specific multiplier. Revenue multiples remain the standard metric for investment bankers when looking at sports teams, due to fluctuations in profits—or the absence of profits, in some cases.
Revenue multiples averaged 22.9, based on 2026 revenue. It is the highest among major global sports leagues, ahead of the NBA at 14.6. The multiple range is also the narrowest among Sportico’s 10 annual sports team projects, due to the league’s heavily centralized model. The range was 22 to 24.
Revenue multiples are typically based on several factors, including historical sales, market (size, saturation and interest by prospective owners), strength of brand, on-field performance (historical and recent), terms of facility leases and expected future team and league economics.
2026 Team Revenue: Most IPL teams report their financials on a fiscal year basis through March 31. The IPL season typically starts just before then, splitting teams’ financials across multiple fiscal years. Sportico’s revenue estimates are for the 2026 season.
Roughly 75% of club revenues on average are derived from centralized funds distributed by the league’s owner and operator, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). That’s largely fueled by the five-year, $6.2 billion package of linear and digital broadcast deals the BCCI signed for the IPL in 2022. The BCCI retains half of the media rights fees after production costs and then distributes about 90% of the remaining sum, in addition to any other league-level earnings, equally to the 10 clubs. The other 10% is allocated based on performance.
Local revenue is primarily derived from tickets and sponsorships. Total revenue averaged $74.4 million per team in 2026.
Sportico is committed to full transparency. For any additional questions, please contact Justin Birnbaum (jbirnbaum@sportico.com) or Kurt Badenhausen (kbadenhausen@sportico.com), who compiled the IPL valuations.
