THE COMBINED VALUATION of all 10 IPL franchises stands at Rs 1.63 lakh crore, with Kolkata Knight Riders leading at over Rs 19,200 crore, followed by Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Rs 18,400 crore each.
According to a report by Fanatic Sports and Hurun, the average valuation of an IPL team is projected to rise from the current USD 1.8 billion to USD 15 billion by 2032.
Among athletes, Virat Kohli has emerged as the highest earner in IPL history, grossing Rs 230 crore from his association with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the report said. Rohit Sharma (Rs 227.2 crore) and MS Dhoni (Rs 200 crore) follow Kohli in all-time IPL earnings. Among women cricketers, Smriti Mandhana leads WPL earnings with Rs 13.7 crore, with the top 10 women players collectively earning Rs 90 crore.
In hockey, the report highlighted stark contrasts in earnings. Defender Harmanpreet Singh earns the highest salary in the Hockey India League at Rs 78 lakh, followed by Abhishek Nain at Rs 72 lakh and Hardik Singh at Rs 70 lakh.
The report also pointed to hockey’s strong grassroots presence, noting participation from young players such as 14-year-old Ketan Kushwaha and two 15-year-olds, Purti Ashish Tani and Rahul Yadav.
It added that a single town in Odisha, Sundargarh, has contributed 12 athletes in the dataset.
