RedBird Capital Buys 15% Stake In Rajasthan Royals, IPL Team Value Goes Over $250 Million

In an official release posted by Rajasthan Royals, Gerry Cardinale, Founder and Managing Partner of RedBird, said, "IPL is a dynamic league with a global audience and forward-thinking mindset regarding fan and player engagement."

Rajasthan Royals | File Image

One of America's most prolific sports investors, the New York-based RedBird Capital Partners, founded by former Goldman Sachs executive Gerry Cardinale, will take a 15% stake in the Indian Premier League's (IPL's) Rajasthan Royals, valuing the cricket team at more than $250 million, in the latest example of US groups investing in fast-growing global franchises.

Manoj Badale, London-based venture capitalist's investment vehicle, Emerging Media, and RedBird Capital Partners announced a strategic partnership on Thursday, with RedBird acquiring a minority stake in the franchise without disclosing the deal size.

However, the Financial Times reported quoting sources that the transaction valued Rajasthan Royals between $250 million and $300 million.

In an official release posted by Rajasthan Royals, Gerry Cardinale, Founder and Managing Partner of RedBird, said, "The IPL is a dynamic league with a global audience and forward-thinking mindset regarding fan and player engagement."

Emerging Media will increase its ownership of the franchise from 51 to 65%.

"We are extremely delighted to partner with RedBird, an experienced investment firm that shares our vision of driving growth and success for the Rajasthan Royals franchise. Such an investment is a testament to the global standing of the IPL and India as an attractive investment destination," said Manoj Badale, founder of Emerging Media and majority owner of Rajasthan Royals.

Shane Warne led the Royals to the IPL title in its inaugural season in 2008. The team finished eighth in the league's 2020 edition, with six wins from fourteen games.  In the 2021 edition, the team finished fifth with three wins from seven games before the tournament was halted due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

 "We are tremendously proud to announce this extra investment from our long-standing investor, Emerging Media, and to establish a ground-breaking collaboration with our new partner RedBird," said Ranjit Barthakur, Chairman of the Rajasthan Royals.

Other existing shareholders in Rajasthan Royal include Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch and chief executive of Fox Corporation.

The television and digital rights for the tournament, which runs for about two months during a regular window in April-May, were purchased by STAR Sports for Rs 16348 crore ($2.20 billion) over five years from 2018 to 2022.

The IPL's finances were hit last year by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced India's cricket board to stage the event in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

According to financial consultancy firm Duff & Phelps, the IPL's brand value dropped by 3.6% to $6.19 billion last year due to the pandemic.

The Redbird transaction is the most recent example of private-equity firms actively seeking to invest in sports teams.
RedBird also recently acquired a minority stake in Fenway Sports Group, which owns English football team Liverpool, baseball's Red Sox, the XFL, and is the majority owner of French football team Toulouse.

Gerry spent 20 years at Goldman Sachs as a partner and senior leader of the Merchant Bank's private equity investing business before founding RedBird.

Gerry serves on the boards of the YES Network, which RedBird recently re-acquired, Yankee Global Enterprises (YGE), and OneTeam Partners, a collaboration between the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) and the MLB Players Association (MLBPA)