Reportage
Inside Nike’s second innings in India
Within six days, Nike returned to Indian cricket and launched its first running shoe designed for India. Much of the comeback is being built outside Nike India, a loss-making wholesaler.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Analysis
The IPL’s coming $5 billion squeeze
Media Partners Asia expects a 94-match IPL to fetch Rs 48,500 crore, flat overall and 13% lower per match. One credible buyer leaves the BCCI bargaining over everything beyond the cheque.
Reportage
Cricket’s banker: How A&W came to price the IPL
A&W Capital is registered in London, operates from Mumbai and is expanding to New York. Since 2021, it has advised on nearly every major cricket transaction. You have probably not heard of it. That, very much, is the point.
Reportage
The money behind the money: How the $1.78 billion RCB deal is being financed
Three weeks after Diageo agreed to sell Royal Challengers Bengaluru for $1.78 billion, the consortium buying it is still raising the funds part of the money. The State of Play reveals how, and who is being asked to write the cheques.
Reportage
Inside the $1.78 billion deal no one saw coming
How the Aditya Birla Group, David Blitzer’s Bolt Ventures, the Times of India Group, and Blackstone’s BXPE Fund swooped in to clinch Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Analysis
The $3.41 billion week that redrew the IPL
Two exits worth $3.41 billion have reset what an IPL franchise is worth, ushered in a new class of owners, and raised fresh questions about media rights and risk
Reportage
The Swede in the Room
EQT has spent nearly two decades buying IT companies and fertility clinics in India. Now it wants a cricket team. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, by most accounts, is where its money is going on March 16.
Reportage
RCB and RR sales: Everyone Is Talking To Everyone
Binding bids are due March 16. Due diligence has uncovered ownership, tax and operating complications absent from the sellers’ headline pitches.
Reportage
The Rajasthan Royals sale: Why sellers are watching RCB closely
The RCB and RR sales are now entangled, with overlapping bidders, shifting timelines, as the Royals consider waiting for Diageo to set RCB’s price.
Reportage
Royal Challengers Bengaluru attracts $1.8 billion bid as nine parties compete
The State of Play can reveal the complete list of bidders for both franchises as RCB narrows the field and Rajasthan Royals move towards binding bids
Reportage
Inside the race to buy RCB and Rajasthan Royals
The race for the two IPL franchises is now down to a handful of serious bidders. Months of exploratory conversations have given way to firmer offers, as buyers begin to confront the numbers and the realities of ownership
Analysis
The $2 billion question: Why Diageo may sell RCB
As Diageo looks to cut costs and trim its portfolio, the RCB valuation shows that global consumer giants now see sport as an asset class rather than a marketing indulgence.