Saudi Arabia has expressed interest in buying a multibillion-dollar stake in the Indian Premier League (IPL), international cricket’s most lucrative event, Bloomberg reports.
Per the Bloomberg report, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s advisers “have sounded out Indian government officials about moving the IPL into a holding company valued at as much as $30 billion, in which Saudi Arabia would then take a significant stake,” citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
The talks were held when the Crown Prince visited India in September.
The interest by Saudi Arabia in the IPL follows a string of investments into other sports including football and golf, as well as F1 and e-sports.
“While the Saudi government is keen to press on with a deal, the Indian government and the country’s powerful but opaque cricket regulator — BCCI — are likely to take a call on the proposal after next year’s federal elections, the people said. The BCCI is led by Jay Shah, the son of India’s Home Minister Amit Shah — a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
