RPSG Group, 5 other IPL franchisees win all 6 teams in South Africa T20 league

RPSG Sports Pvt. Ltd., the owner of IPL's Lucknow Super Giants, has won the bid for the Durban team in South Africa's new T20 league.

This comes months after RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group's bid worth ₹7,090 crore emerged as the winner for the Lucknow IPL franchise in October last year.

All six teams in the new South African T20 league, which is scheduled for January next year, have been bought by owners of franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), marking a new high for the financial success of Indian cricket and the IPL.

Apart from RPSG Group, the other successful bidders include Reliance Industries, which owns the Mumbai Indians team in IPL; Sun TV Network Ltd., the owner of Sunrisers Hyderabad; Chennai Super Kings Cricket; Paarl Royals Sports Group, which owns Rajasthan Royals and JSW Sports, co-owners of Delhi Capitals.

The open bid process, managed by Deloitte Corporate Finance, attracted over 29 entities who expressed interest in owning a franchise worldwide, Cricket South Africa said in a release.

The six franchise owners for South Africa's T20 League have been confirmed following a rigorous process over the past few months, the statement added.

Over 10 venues were made available for interested bidders to own a franchise and all 10 of them received expressions of interest.

Reliance Industries has bought the Cape Town franchise while the Sun TV Group's team will be based out of St George's Park, Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth).

Chennai Super Kings Cricket has acquired the Johannesburg franchise. Rajasthan Royals will operate from Boland Park. JSW Sports' franchise will be based out of SuperSport Park, Pretoria.

"This is truly an exciting time for South African cricket; the overwhelming interest shows that the country remains valued in the global cricketing eco-system," says CSA chief and T20 league's commissioner Graeme Smith.

"The strong sports background of the respective owners and the global brands they manage ensures that South African cricket and the broader industry will benefit from their expertise and resources, as they bring stability and experience to the league."

This comes weeks after Reliance-backed Viacom 18 bagged the digital rights of the Indian Premier League last month for which it coughed up close to ₹23,578 crore (a 70% premium over the base price). The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) raised a record ₹48,390 crore by auctioning media rights for 410 matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the period 2023-27, with digital rights exceeding TV rights for the first time. DisneyStar retained the IPL TV rights for the Indian subcontinent for ₹23,575 crore.

(RPSG Group is also the publisher of Fortune India)