Do the richest owners actually win more titles? IPL’s relationship with wealth explained

Another season of the Indian Premier League is set to get underway in a week’s time, with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru facing Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, 28 March.

And one of the first questions that comes to mind days before the start of an IPL season concerns the eventual champion. Whether it will be one of the seven franchises with at least one title to their name lifting the trophy again at the end of the season. Or whether the world’s biggest and richest T20 league will welcome a new champion, as was the case last year when RCB ended an 18-year wait for a maiden title.

A total of eight franchises have won the IPL till date including the now-defunct Deccan Chargers – which was part of the league from the inaugural season in 2008 till 2012. Three of those eight teams – Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders – have won multiple titles.

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But is there a co-relation between the wealth of a franchise’ owners and the number of IPL titles, or the lack thereof?

Owning an IPL team isn’t everyone’s cup of tea to begin with. Only the most successful from the world of business or other walks of life such as entertainment get to own a franchise in the league that not only is the wealthiest in cricket but among the most prominent across all sport in terms of brand value.

But does the net worth of an IPL franchise owner increase the team’s chances of winning a title? It certainly has become a major talking point in football, particularly in the Premier League in England where Manchester City have emerged a dominant force ever since the club’s management was taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008.

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A similar case could be made for Chelsea, which won five Premier League and two UEFA Champions League titles after being acquired by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

But does that also hold true for the Indian Premier League? Here’s more on that:

MI and CSK – contrasting cases for IPL’s most successful teams

Mumbai Indians stand out from the rest when it comes to the discussion of IPL owners and their net worth. They are after all owned by the Reliance Group, the largest public company in India by market capitalisation and revenue whose chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani happens to be the wealthiest Indian.

Interestingly, MI happen to be the joint-most successful franchise in IPL history with five titles. They also happen to be among the top three franchises in the IPL in terms of brand value alongside Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings.

But is the wealth of their owners the main factor behind MI’s success and legacy? India Cements, the Chennai-based cement manufacturer that previously was the sole owner of CSK and remains the largest shareholder in the present day, is reportedly worth USD 10 billion, a long way off from Reliance’s net worth of USD 92.8 billion.

And yet, the ‘Yellow Army’ have just as many IPL titles as MI. Let’s not forget the fact that the Chennai have reached the final far more frequently than Mumbai, and thus could stake claim to being the most consistent team in IPL history in terms of reaching the final/playoffs.

Comparing three-time champions KKR with other franchises

A similar case could be made for KKR, the only other franchise with multiple IPL titles. Theirs is a joint-partnership between Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan, whose worth USD 780 million, and businessman Jay Mehta and his actor wife Juhi Chawla, worth USD 3.5 billion and USD 6 million respectively.

That is significantly less compared to Gujarat Titans, whose owner CVC Capital Partners have a market capitalisation worth USD 13.49 billion with approximately USD 205 billion of assets under management. The Titans, in comparison, have just one title – winning on debut in 2022 under the leadership of current MI captain Hardik Pandya.

When it comes to franchises without a single IPL title, what’s common between Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings and and Lucknow Super Giants is the fact that they all have a net worth higher than that of KKR.

PBKS for instance, are co-owned by Mohit Burman, Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia. And while Zinta and Wadia are worth USD 15 million and USD 6.7 million respectively, Burman happens to be the chairman of the Dabur Group, which is worth USD 10.4 billion.

DC, meanwhile, are co-owned by the JSW and GMR groups that are worth USD 7.6 billion and USD 3.2 billion respectively. And LSG, owned by RPSG Group chairman Sanjiv Goenka, are worth USD 4.5 billion, which is roughly the same as the Knight Riders.

And until last year, RCB – owned by United Spirits that’s a subsidiary of Diageo International and is worth USD 11.95 billion – did not have a single title to their name.

The lesson here? Why a wealthy owner certainly is an advantage when it comes to sport – whether one’s discussing team or individual sport – it takes more than just money to win championships.