Major update on ownership of Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of IPL 2026
Let's take a look at the major update on the ownership of Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who are looking for the new owners for them ahead of the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)- the defending champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) heading into the 2026 season- are in search of new ownership. And the owners of The Hundred Franchise, Welsh Fire, have emerged as a serious candidate to buy Virat Kohli’s franchise as one of the major partnerships with the biggest T20 league in the world.
Following the sale of stakes, Welsh Fire is now owned by the Glamorgan Cricket Club and Sanjay Govil, the American tech billionaire, who also owns the Washington Freedom in the Major League Cricket (MLC). They have a 50% share in the Fire, which was valued at just over 84 million at the auction.
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RCB, if reports are to be believed, could get sold for as much as 2 billion dollars. It was the second most expensive franchise when the league was launched way back in 2009, and Diageo took sole control of it in 2016. The last time an IPL franchise was created in 2021, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) was owned by Sajiv Gaoenkar, who later went on to win the majority of Manchester Originals.
Welsh Fire serious contender to buy Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of IPL 2026
Govil and his team at Glamorgan, as reported by the Telegraph, are confident of raising the funds to complete the purchase of the Bengaluru franchise, which completed their dream of winning the first title of the league after 18 seasons of toil.
“Fire and Freedom do not comment on specific cases. However, we are in the business of owning, operating, and developing global cricket franchises. We note current structural trends towards consolidation in global cricket assets and intend to fully participate in that process while creating value for our shareholders.” Rhydderch Roberts, the chairman of the Fire, told.
RCB’s long-awaited maiden title was marred by the stampede case outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium during the victory parade in June. That saw 11 people die, and several were injured. Since then, the ground hasn’t hosted any competitive cricket, but could return to action during the forthcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025-26.
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