IPL teams now worth $17 billion

Today's news

IPL teams are now valued at $17 billion (Franchise)

What happened: Sportico's first valuation study of the IPL puts the ten teams at about $17 billion combined, or $1.7 billion on average, with Mumbai Indians highest at $2.1 billion and Lucknow Super Giants lowest at $1.5 billion. The average team earned $74.4 million in 2026, and about three quarters of that came from central league payouts, not the team's own sales.

For sponsors: Teams valued at 22.9 times revenue are priced on future growth, and sponsorship is one of the few income lines a franchise controls itself. Expect that to show up in 2027 renewal asks, so bring delivery data to the table, not the headline valuation. Business Standard

MI rebuilds its coaching bench around Pollard (Franchise)

What happened: Mumbai Indians named Robin Uthappa batting coach on 30 October, 18 years after he played for the team in its first season. Lasith Malinga, Paras Mhambrey and Carl Hopkinson have left, with Mitchell McClenaghan taking bowling, T Dilip fielding and Dhawal Kulkarni back as development bowling coach.

For sponsors: Under head coach Kieron Pollard, MI now has an almost new backroom, and familiar names like Uthappa give the team faces for content beyond the playing squad. Brands planning MI campaigns for 2027 can ask for coaching-staff access now, since this group is settled well before the 15 November retention list. Cricket Addictor

The question

Does a $17 billion valuation make an IPL shirt worth more?

Franchise values and sponsorship prices are not the same thing, but they tend to travel together. A team that has just been valued at $2.1 billion will not walk into a 2027 renewal asking for less.

The study itself gives a sponsor reasons to be careful. Sportico puts the average IPL team at 22.9 times revenue, against 14.6 for the NBA. That gap is about expectations: buyers are paying for the next rights cycle and a bigger league, not for what a team earns today. About 75% of today's revenue comes from central payouts the franchise does not control. Sponsorship is one of the few lines it can grow by itself, which makes partners the obvious place to look for that growth.

The valuation also says little about any one asset. The top and bottom teams sit within $600 million of each other. Value inside a single match varies far more. In one IPL 2026 match TrueVal measured, the paid-media rate for 10 seconds of exposure differed about 6x between the live innings and the pre- and post-match show. That is one jersey sponsor in one game, a sample, not a benchmark. But it shows that where and when a brand appears matters more than what the team is worth on paper.

So the answer is no, not on its own. A rising valuation is a good reason for a team to ask for more, and a good reason for a brand to ask what it gets for the extra. Price the asset on measured 2026 delivery, write a review after the 2027 season into the contract, and leave the valuation headline to the franchise's investors.