The winner of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Rajasthan Royals is one of the original eight franchises, which represents the state of Rajasthan. Who owns Rajasthan Royals is a widely searched topic primarily due to the controversies the team went through in 2016 and 2017. The franchise was also associated with a Bollywood celebrity and a business tycoon before the controversy. They have had a history of ups and downs in the IPL, which piques the interest of IPL fans into knowing more about the franchise and its owners.
Team Owner of Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021
As of IPL 2021, the current owner of the Rajasthan Royals franchise is Manoj Badale, who has a majority stake in the team. Several investors also own the franchise along with Manoj Badale. The CEO of the franchise is Mike Fordham, while Sanju Samson is the Captain and Kumar Sangakkara is the Coach.
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In the IPL auction of 2008, Rajasthan Royals was bought by Emerging Media IPL Ltd for $67 million, which was the least expensive bid compared to the other 7 franchises. In 2008, the Bollywood Star, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, and her husband Raj Kundra, a businessman, were also the co-owners of the franchise with a share of 11.7%. However, Raj Kundra was involved in a controversy around a match-fixing scandal in 2015, after which he was banned for life from IPL. Consequently, Rajasthan Royals was also suspended from IPL for two years in 2016 and 2017.
Currently, Manoj Badale (Emerging Media IPL Ltd.) has a 50.1% stake in the Rajasthan Royals franchise. Lachlan Murdoch and Suresh Chellaram are amongst the other investors who are the co-owners of the franchise. It is also believed that Emerging Media IPL bought a stake of 13.4% from Kelowna Investment Ltd, which is a Nigeria-based company owned by an Indian businessman and co-owner of RR, Suresh Chellaram.
About the team
Rajasthan Royals has its home ground in Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. The team won its only title in the inaugural edition of IPL in 2008, under the leadership of Shane Warne.
Also Read: Which Bollywood Celebrity is the Owner of KKR?
In the initial years of IPL, the team unveiled some of the best cricket talents, such as Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja. Despite the initial success, the Rajasthan Royals franchise has not been successful for a long period now.
The Brand Value of Rajasthan Royals
Despite the big names featuring in the ranks, RR has not enhanced its brand value in IPL after its return in 2018. The major contributing factor to the dip in the brand value is failing to qualify in the playoffs for the last two seasons. The brand value of IPL dipped by 8.1% in 2020. However, in IPL 2021, the sponsorship revenue witnessed a slight rise owing to top sponsors such as Red Bull, Jio, and Colgate.
Rajasthan Royals in Recent News
Rajasthan Royals have contributed INR 7.5 crore approx towards COVID-19 relief to help with the provision of oxygen across India. The owners, CEO, team management, players, and the Royal Rajasthan Foundation (RRF), in partnership with the British Asian Trust, have contributed the amount to combat the COVID-19 crisis in India.
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