Mumbai, Sep 19 (PTI): The brand value of Indian Premier League (IPL) has jumped 7 per cent to USD 6.8 billion in 2019, with the value of the Mumbai and Chennai franchisees rising the fastest, says a report. However, the Shahrukh Khan-co-owned Kolkata franchise, along with embattled Vijay Mallya's Bengaluru franchise saw an 8 per cent decline in their valuations, Duff & Phelps, a consultancy, said in the report Thursday. The Board of Cricket Control in India launched the premier T20 cricketing league in 2008 with eight teams owned by corporates. Following its success, two more teams were created later but the number is down to eight again. No Question of Replacing Virat as Captain: RCB Team Director Hesson.

The Mukesh Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians, the winner of four editions, saw an 8.5 per cent increase in valuation to Rs 809 crore--making it the most valued team, while the India Cements-owned Chennai Super Kings' value shot up 13.1 per cent to Rs 732 crore. The Jindals-co-owned Delhi Capitals saw it value increasing 8.9 per cent to Rs 374 crore in the reporting year. Apart from the Bengaluru and Kolkata franchisees, the Rajasthan Royals, co-owned by the media mogul Murdoch family, also saw a decline in valuation, to Rs 271 crore from Rs 284 crore a year ago. "Our assessment of the brand value of the various franchises also takes into consideration the effectiveness and transparency of their management teams," the report said, adding controversies had impacted the brand earlier.

The report said it is imperative for the teams to engage fans more actively off the field to increase their valuation just like the football clubs in Europe.

"We have seen that IPL has still not been able to capitalise on the merchandising market, which is a major source of revenue for sporting brands across the world," the report said.