RCB is going to be sold, Virat Kohli's team will get a new owner before IPL 2026!

Preparations are underway for the auction for the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League, meanwhile, a new news related to the sale of Royal Challengers Bangalore has come. It was reported for the last few days, but now the report has revealed that the sale process of RCB has started. This process will be over before the next season. According to the report, the current owner of the franchise itself, Diageo, has announced this. RCB, which has been a part of the league since 2008, won their first IPL title in the last edition (2025), it was also the first title of Virat Kohli who has been playing for this team since the first season.

RCB's men's team plays in the IPL and the women's team in the WPL. There was speculation about the sale of RCB for a long time, but now the franchise owner Diageo himself has confirmed it. According to a report by Cricbuzz, the team's sales were reported by Diageo itself.

In a message to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Wednesday (November 5), the British company described it as a 'strategic review' of the investment in Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL), a wholly-owned company of United Spirits Limited, the Indian subsidiary of Diageo, as per the

report.

The company said in its disclosure, "USL is initiating a strategic review of investments in its wholly-owned subsidiary RCSPL. RCSPL's business involves the ownership of the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise team, which participates in the men's Indian Premier League and Women's Premier League cricket tournaments organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India."

sale deal is close to Diageo

In their covering letter to the

stock exchange, Diageo and USL revealed "it is expected that this process will be completed by March 31, 2026><."

In 2008, Vijay Mallya bought the RCB team

The Indian Premier League started in 2008, when the BCCI bid for the 8 teams playing initially. Vijay Mallya won the RCB team's bid, he bought this franchise for about Rs 600 crore. Vijay Mallya was then the owner of United Spirits. In 2014, Diageo took full ownership with a more than 54 percent stake in USL.