Rich Indians Who Also Own Sports Teams

There are some successful Indian celebrities with deep pockets who have funded multiple profitable ventures. Out of them all sports teams seem to be cherry-picked, not only by sports personalities and B-town celebrities but also by India’s richest.

These people are competing to possess their own sports team in the field of badminton, hockey, cricket, and kabaddi.

Cash-rich entrepreneurs have always been the sponsors of sports teams. Owning a sports club of their own is the new status symbol for the rich Indians. According to a report, around the world, there are 62 billionaire who own a team in major sports leagues.

Let us talk about nine rich and fortunate Indian celebrities who have invested in sports teams.

1. Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla- Kolkata Knight Riders

Apart from being a successful actor SRK is also a successful entrepreneur. SRK and Juhi Chawla who were known to be best buddies, together invested in the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders. SRK’s engagement with the IPL has been popular. He was also banned for 5 years from Wankhede Stadium in 2012 for getting into a heated argument with the authorities.

In IPL season 13, KKR bought the most expensive English bowler Pat Cummins for a staggering Rs 15.50 crore.

• Mukesh Ambani- Mumbai Indians

Mukesh Ambani has become one of the richest Indians by selling his company Reliance Jio’s shares to companies like Facebook and Google. And now, he plans to build an online platform to take on the likes of Amazon.com and Walmart Inc’s Flipkart. Apart from being the richest Indian, he is also the second-richest owner of sports teams around the world. His wife, Nita Ambani, owns this IPL team Mumbai Indians. By February 2020, the team had already crossed Rs 100 crore in sponsorships.

• Preity Zinta- Kings XI Punjab

She is the part-owner of the IPL team, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) along, with Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, and Karan Paul. This year, headed by KL Rahul as the captain, the team earned a profit of Rs 42.70 crore. This year KXIP spent the most on West Indian pacer Sheldon Cottrell who was auctioned at Rs 8.50 crore, and Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell who had bidding of Rs 10.75 crore.

• Abhishek Bachchan- Chennaiyin FC and Jaipur Pink Panthers

Abhishek Bachchan is the co-owner of two successful sports teams. First is the winning team from the Pro-Kabaddi League, which is Jaipur Pink Panthers and the second one is Chennaiyin FC, the most successful franchise of the Indian Soccer League. Abhishek Bachchan was a sportsman in his school and college days and wanted to get involved in Indian sports in some way. Maybe, that was the reason for him to become a ‘sports entrepreneur’ outside of his love for acting!

• Ranbir Kapoor- Mumbai City FC

Ranbir Kapoor, along with Bimal Parekh, a Chartered Accountant co-owns Mumbai City FC.  Ranbir Kapoor has been a big fan of the sport for a long time and always supported Manchester and Barcelona City.

• Lakshmi Mittal- Queen Park Rangers

ArcelorMittal founder doesn’t own a local team but had an ownership stake in the British football team. Queens Park Rangers (QPR) is a British football team co-owned by Lakshmi Mittal along with a Malaysian businessman called Tony Fernandes and Ruben Emir Gnana lingam. However, Amit Bhatia, his son-in-law, took over QPR’s stake, who was also its vice president up until 2018.

• Saurav Ganguly- ATK Mohun Bagan (earlier Atlético de Kolkata)

The former skipper of the Indian cricket team, Sourav Ganguly, is also among the Indian celebrities who now own sports teams. He along, with his co-owner Sanjiv Goenka, founder of the RPSG group, own a stake in the West Bengal-based ATK Mohun Bagan. According to reports, it was the most expensive team created during the first season of ISL

• Virat Kohli- FC Goa

Virat Kohli, the skipper of the Indian cricket team has invested his money in FC Goa. In April 2020, Juan Ferrando acceded as their manager. Kohli along, with his co-owner Akshay Tandon, Venugopal Dhoot, and Jaydev Mody, possess a 12% share in FC Goa.

• Mahendra Singh Dhoni- Ranchi Rays, Chennaiyin FC, and Mahi Racing Team India

The CSK captain and the former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has stakes in not one but three sports teams namely Mahi Racing Team India, Ranchi Rays-the Indian field hockey team, and Chennaiyin FC, which is also a part of the ISL. The cricketer co-owns Chennaiyin FC team with Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan.