Manchester United owners, the Glazer family, have submitted a staggering ₹16,300 Crore bid to buy IPL and WPL franchise RCB. Current owners Diageo have long been seeking an exit and the Glazer family are amongst the nine interested parties in buying the team. RCB are the reigning IPL and WPL champions, having won the WPL 2026 title earlier this week.

Manchester United owners have once again expressed their interest in owning an IPL franchise having registered a whopping $1.8 billion (₹16,300 Crore) bid for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The franchise has been on the market for almost a year, with owners Diageo seeking an exit. RCB's value has sky rocketed in recent seasons, following three consecutive years of winning trophies.

As per the State of Play, as many as 9 bidders have expressed their interest in taking ownership of the franchise. Reports suggest Diageo had set a $2.1 billion valuation following the IPL 2025 win. The WPL 2026 win should only strengthen their resolve on the value. However, the franchise is also embroiled in off field controversy, with their trophy celebrations resulting in a stampede that killed 11 people.

The Glazer family has owned Manchester United since 2005. Their ownership of the club remains controversial, given it was a high debt, leveraged takeover of the club. Last year, the club sold some of their stake to Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS.

The Glazer family has long been interested in the IPL. They were among the bidders when the BCCI introduced two new franchises which late became Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans. However, they were outmuscled after an underwhelming bid.

This time around, their $1.8 billion bid is believed to be the highest among all parties. Avram Glazer's Lancer Capital owns the ILT20 franchise Desert Vipers. The team won the competition earlier this year.

Other than the Glazers, Serum Institute of India's Adar Poonawalla confirmed he had placed a competitive bid to purchase the franchise. Others reportedly in the fray include Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath and Ranjan Pai, chairman of the Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG).

Launched in 2008, Vijay Mallya, then head of United Spirits Ltd (USL) and Kingfisher Airlines, bought RCB for about $112 million. The franchise was set up under Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd (RCSPL). However, after Mallya’s financial troubles and eventual exit from India, USL’s new majority owner, Diageo, took full control. Since 2016, RCB has been entirely owned by Diageo through RCSPL.