New York-based investment firm Tiger Global is poised to invest about $40 million in one of the world’s most famous cricket teams.
Looking to capitalize on the fast-growing popularity of the global sport, the technology-focused outfit will invest in the Indian Premier League’s Rajasthan Royals, according to multiple reports.
The deal would value the Royals — one of the eight founding franchises of the IPL — at $650 million.
The Royals are majority-owned by U.K.-based sports investment platform Emerging Media Ventures, but private investment firm RedBird Capital — a partner in Fenway Sports Group, the YES Network, and XFL, among other assets — also owns a minority share.
Tiger Global would come in as a minority partner.
A massive cultural phenomenon in India and other parts of Asia, cricket is quickly gaining a deeper presence on other continents. Last year, U.S.-based media giants Paramount and Disney battled for IPL domestic media rights, and last month, the league began its first full-fledged season since 2019.
Back in the States, Major League Cricket plans to begin play in July utilizing a six-team, single-entity model backed by a group of investors including Microsoft executive chairman and chief executive Satya Nadella.
