Most valuable IPL franchise ₹1,000 crore richer than CSK, MI; Indian legend leads all-time earnings: Check report

Kolkata Knight Riders is the top IPL team in terms of valuation, according to “Fanatic Sports Hurun India’s Most Valuable Sports Teams 2026” report.

Shah Rukh Khan’s team leads all IPL franchises with a valuation of ₹19,200–22,500 crore. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings follow, each valued at around ₹18,400 crore. CSK and MI are five-time IPL champions while KKR have won it thrice so far.

The average IPL franchise valuation is projected to reach $15 billion (more than 1 trillion rupees at the current exchange rate) by 2032. This would place individual Indian teams on par with top NFL franchises, according to the report.

Lachlan Murdoch secured a remarkable 92.1x return on his Rajasthan Royals exit. This is the benchmark return for any Indian sports investment to date, the report says.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru lead all franchises with 43 brand partners. RCB are also the top social media with 23.8 million Instagram followers. IPL teams collectively have over 100 million Instagram followers.

Cumulative player earnings across 18 IPL seasons total ₹6,341 crore. Virat Kohli leads all-time IPL earnings at ₹230.2 crore across 18 seasons. Rohit Sharma is closely followed by ₹227.2 crore in career earnings. MS Dhoni has earned ₹200.3 crore.

Dhoni also holds the record for most appearances with 278. Rohit Sharma holds the record for most IPL titles won by one player, with 6.

Men vs Women: Stark Financial Divide

The earnings gap between male and female cricketers is vast and striking. Virat Kohli alone has earned ₹230.2 crore across his IPL career. By contrast, Smriti Mandhana tops WPL earnings at just ₹13.7 crore. That means Kohli has earned nearly 17 times more than the WPL's highest earner.

The top 10 highest-earning WPL players have collectively earned over ₹90 crore. Kohli and Rohit together have earned over ₹457 crore between them alone.

The WPL fields 87 athletes from 10 countries across 5 franchises. Despite its diversity, the league's financial rewards remain vastly disproportionate to the men's game.

Beyond Cricket

India's six professional leagues collectively track 1,323 athletes across multiple sports. The Indian Super League fields the most athletes at 455, followed by the IPL with 249. Pro Kabaddi League has 235, Hockey India League has 158, and Prime Volleyball League has 139.

Indian athletes account for 77% of all tracked players at 1,018. Australia, Spain, and the UK each contribute 29-41 athletes, respectively. Remarkably, 84.3% of India's top athletes come from outside the seven metros. Mumbai and Delhi are the top cities nationally for producing athletes.

Haryana leads all states with 129 athletes, 93 of whom play kabaddi. It is the only state with significant representation across all five sports.

Maharashtra, Punjab and Kerala follow as the next top talent-producing states. Manipur contributes 67 athletes, of whom 94% are footballers. All 42 of Mizoram's tracked athletes play football exclusively.

Sonipat produces 22 of India's top kabaddi players, reflecting its growing sporting identity. Sundargarh, Odisha, contributes 12 athletes, all of whom are hockey players.

Kozhikode produces 12 athletes across football and volleyball. Kerala remains the only major state where cricket is not the dominant professional sport.

The cumulative average age across all 1,323 athletes is 26.2 years. The 20–29 age cohort accounts for 68% of all tracked athletes. Kabaddi has the youngest average age at 23.6 years. Cricket has the oldest average age at 27.5 years.

Hockey produces India's youngest active professionals, including 14-year-old Ketan Kushwaha. MS Dhoni, aged 44, is the most veteran athlete on the entire list. Sunil Chhetri holds the all-time ISL scoring record with 76 goals in 184 appearances.

GMR Group leads multi-sport ownership with 10 teams across three continents. The IPL alone accounts for 307 of 763 total brand sponsorship partnerships across all six leagues. Sagittarius is the most common star sign among all 1,323 tracked athletes.