Cricketers aren’t just limited to their tournament contracts, endorsement deals and meet-and-greet events. Some cricketers hold shares in different business ventures, F&B sector, retail brands, fitness applications and sports teams.
We know that the last one comes as a slight shocker but it’s also one of the century’s most lucrative investment ventures. Besides the magnanimous cricketing even – IPL that holds the very fabric of our being together – live sporting events: Indian Super League (ISL), India’s professional football league and India’s professional kabaddi league Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) have gained a lot of prominence in recent years.
The concept for both leagues are similar to IPL. A certain entity or entity owns several teams, and they keep knocking each other out until one emerges victorious. This concept also applies to lesser known tournaments, such as the Indian Badminton League (now Premier Badminton League), in which Sunil Gavaskar once co-owned a team based in Mumbai. In the past, he’s also invested in another famous sport. That was an international investment.
Now, let’s take a look on which Indian cricketers hold a share in other sports teams.
MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni is the proud co-owner of Chennaiyin FC, a professional Chennai (Tamil Nadu) based football club. In 2014 Dhoni invested in the team along with Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan, according to media reports. He has also been spotted cheering on several occasions for the team.Some sources also say that the reason the former skipper invested in a football team was that before he picked up the bat, he used to be a goalkeeper. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Virat Kohli
Under the belt of Captain Cool, he has a variety of business investments including the co-ownership of the Premier Tennis League (IPTL) franchise UAE Royals. Roger Federer owned the other half. That deal was completed in 2014. Kohli currently holds a small stake in FC Goa, an ISL franchise.
Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly aka Dada is a fanatic for football. He is a co-owner of ATK (formerly known as Atlético de Kolkata) with entrepreneur Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjiv Goenka and Utsav Parekh. It was the most expensive team produced during the first ISL season, according to media reports.
Sunil Gavaskar
In addition to owning a badminton team, Gavaskar has also claimed an International Premier Tennis League partnership. He was the co-owner of the Singapore team.
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar holds a share with Tamil Thalaivas in the Pro Kabaddi League. But that’s not his first investment into a sports team. He previously co-owned a badminton team, and a tennis team as well.
Please share with us the several other cricketers who own a stake in other sports teams in the comment section below.
