Quickfire cricket format Indian Premier League's (IPL) brand value has more than doubled to $4.13 billion (over Rs 18,000 crore), while 'Chennai Super Kings' has emerged the most valued franchise this year, says a study.
Ranked fourth last year, Chennai Super Kings led by M S Dhoni has moved to number one with a valuation of $48.4 million, followed by Shahrukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders ($46 million) and Shilpa Shetty's Rajasthan Royals ($45.2 million).
The valuation of teams pale in comparison to the IPL brand itself, which has more than doubled from last year's $2.01 billion.
"The IPL brand alone has risen significantly from the previous year's valuation providing tremendous economic value to its owner BCCI," according to brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance.
"In comparison to international benchmarks for sporting business' such as EPL (English Premier League) which is valued at $12 billion, the IPL juggernaut, in a short span of 3 years, is valued at $4 billion and has the potential to grow further," said Unni Krishnan, managing director, Brand Finance India.
"A huge amount of Intellectual property is being created by the complete IPL ecosystem which was sustained despite last year's difficult economic conditions. This demonstrates the exponential value of IPL and the Brand potential in a cricket loving country like India and other global cricketing countries," Brand Finance said in a release.
The individual franchisees have also seen a fair amount of uplift in value since last year.
Vijay Mallya-promoted Royal Challengers Bangalore is ranked fourth this year with a valuation of $41.9 million and is followed by Nita Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians ($40.8 million), Delhi Daredevils ($40.5 million), Kings XI Punjab ($36.1 million) and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers at the bottom with a valuation of $34.4 million.
