Royals Celebrate Eventful Season, Lifting Team To Number Two Position in Indian Premier League Rankings

Royals help drive record-setting crowd attendance for 2022 IPL Final, and setting the stage for a $6bn bid for broadcast media rights.

PHOENIX, June 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- US Royals Consortium, partners of the Rajasthan Royals via Emerging Media Ventures based out of the United States, announces the team's rise to second place amongst 10 franchises in the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). In addition to an eventful season and coveted ranking, the IPL 2022 final between Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad set a new record attendance for a cricket match, attracting a crowd of 104,859 at the world's largest cricket ground. The continued surge in cricket's global popularity drove broadcast rights for India's top cricket league to sell for $6.2 Billion in a three-day online auction in a deal that establishes the IPL as one of the most valuable sporting entities in the world yielding a value per game second only to the National Football League.

Champions of the inaugural edition, Rajasthan Royals, have attracted investment from US elite athletes Chris Paul and Larry Fitzgerald and Kelvin Beachum. The trio have come on board as part of the Royals US Consortium making them minority investors in the franchise and helping bring awareness to the sport. The global interest in cricket is also illustrated by the recent addition of the two new IPL teams that were sold for a cumulative ~$1.7bn.

"The team's fearless approach on the field is a true inspiration," Simer Mayo, one of the US Royal Consortium's lead investors. "The Royals' nail-biting finishes, fueled by star players Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal, provided unforgettable memories. We congratulate them on a successful IPL season and their second place ranking."

While Rajasthan Royals lost in the IPL 2022 final, its star players Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal became the third pair in IPL history to win the Orange Cap and Purple Cap, respectively from the same franchise. It is only the third time in the history of the IPL that the highest run-scorer and highest wicket-taker of a season have been from the same team.

The IPL garnered the attention of global media giants battling for a five-year contract. Disney-owned Star India acquired the TV rights for the league for $3.01 billion while the online streaming rights were acquired by Viacom18—a joint venture between Paramount and billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned TV18 for $3.04 billion, according to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).The IPL annual multi-week tournament draws more than half-a-billion viewers, trailing only English soccer and the National Football League in popularity globally, according to BCCI.

Through the years, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has evolved into an all-encompassing entity that attracts both in-person attendance and viewership from across the globe, especially in cricket-obsessed nation of India's 1.4 billion people. The Royals added another first to their list of accolades with their IPL final with the record-setting crowd of 104,859, according to organizers at Narendra Modi Stadium. The largest crowd in one-day matches was previously listed as 100,000 in Kolkata in the 1990s and early 2000 but the highest official figure for a limited-overs match was the 87,812 people at the 1992 50-over World Cup final between Pakistan and England in Melbourne.

The Rajasthan Royals are on a mission to "Transform Society through Cricket, and Cricket through Innovation". The global sports franchise believes that royalty is not something one inherits, it is something that is to be earned. This 'Spirit of Royalty' is what sets the Royals apart resulting in a series of firsts, including the first team to lift an IPL trophy; the first player to win the MVP award in an IPL; and the first to win this award the maximum number of times in the history of the IPL, Shane Watson. This pioneering approach extends to the digital realm as well with the designated YouTube Channel in November 2008. The Rajasthan Royals are committed to driving talent at the highest level across every level of the organization, fueled with recent investment from "Moneyball" Billy Beane and Redbird Capital.

For more information, visit usroyals.net

SOURCE US Royals Consortium