Indian Premier League cricket 2026: Big Beer meets Big Cricket
The 2026 IPL is underway and will run through the Spring. It is one of the most popular sporting tournaments in the world, not that one might glean this from the UK media (the BBC and Test Match Special aside)
To demonstrate the scale of it, before the season began a consortium including private equity group Blackstone bought one of the IPL teams Royal Challengers Bengaluru from United Spirits which is owned by Guinness and Johnie Walker group Diageo for $1.8m.
The sale marks a first entry into cricket for Blackstone while Diageo is reviewing its non-core businesses.
It underlines that franchise cricket while it’s a game that entertains millions is also big business. A familiar situation for football but with the Hundred in England and Wales also franchised from 2026 something that is happening here too.
Kmflett's Blog 
Leave a comment