Know Your Owner : Paarl Royals

When the Rajasthan Royals took to the field in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League, they had assembled the cheapest squad, bought the cheapest franchise and were the only team without a superstar Indian player. All the pundits and fans said they would finish last but they stunned the world and won the tournament under the leadership of Shane Warne. Part of the same ownership group that lived through that fairytale season will bring their expertise to South Africa as the Paarl Royals try to emulate that early Rajasthan success. This is the Know Your Owner review of the Paarl Royals.

Both South African and Indian Royals franchises are owned by Royals Sports Group which is comprised of Emerging Media, the investment vehicle controlled by Manoj Badale (65%), RedBird Capital Partners owned by Gerry Cardinale (15%) and Blue Water Estate Ltd owned by Lachlan Murdoch (13%). Manoj Badale, the founding owner, was born in Dhule, Maharashtra, India. His primary education was held in Jai Hind High School, Dhule and he moved to England at a young age, moving around various parts of North and West London before completing his studies at the University of Cambridge, where he studied economics.

Manoj Badale is Co-Founder of Blenheim Chalcot, the UK’s leading digital venture builder. His most profitable venture is his venture capital firm Blenheim Chalcot which traces its roots back to Netdecisions which Manoj and his business partner Charles Mindenhall founded in 1998. The firm has portfolio sales of over £350 million, assets under management of £800 million, more than 3,000 employees, and a track record of over 40 companies. Over 20 of its businesses are now growing globally including in the UK, Europe, India, America and Singapore and these include Hive Learning, Avado, Koodoo, Modular, ClearScore and Scale Space. Manoj is heavily involved in charitable activities and is the founding trustee and chairman of the British Asian Trust and was also the chairman of Operation Smile UK until 2014. He was also a founding trustee of the charity Technology Trust and In June 2018, Manoj was awarded an OBE for services to the economy and charity.

The second firm invested in the Royals is RedBird Capital Partners, owned and managed by Gerry Cardinale. Some of the firm’s more recent sports investments include the $1.2 billion acquisition of AC Milan, Fenway Sports Group (the corporate holding company of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC), Toulouse FC, the XFL with Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia, and the Yankees Entertainment & Sports (YES) Network. Over the years, RedBird’s investment partners have included a host of internationally renowned sports franchises and leagues, including the New York Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys, the National Football League, and multiple Players Associations across the NFL, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, United States Women’s National Soccer Team and Women’s National Basketball Association.

Born and raised in the affluent Main Line suburbs of Philadelphia, Cardinale attended Harvard University between 1985 and 1989 and achieved a Bachelor of Arts. Prior to founding RedBird in 2014, Gerry spent 20 years at Goldman Sachs where he was a Partner of the firm and a senior leader of the Merchant Bank’s private equity investing business. During his tenure, Gerry worked with entrepreneurs and family business owners to build several successful multi-billion-dollar companies, including the Yankees Entertainment & Sports (“YES”) Network, Legends Hospitality, and Suddenlink Communications.

The final major shareholder is Lachlan Murdoch. He is the eldest son of Australian-born American media mogul Rupert Murdoch. In 1989, Rupert Murdoch brought Lachlan Murdoch, then 18 years old, to Australia while on business, to have him trained for three months at the Daily Mirror. At the age of 22, Murdoch was appointed general manager of Queensland Newspapers, the publisher of Brisbane’s Courier-Mail. One year later, he became publisher of Australia’s first national paper, The Australian. In 1995 he was appointed Deputy CEO of News Limited, executive director of News Corporation in 1996, Deputy Chief Operating Officer in 2000; he was made Senior Executive Vice President from 1999 to 2000, and has been Chairman of STAR since 1995.

He is now the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Corporation (FOX), which is among the most recognized and influential media companies in the world. In this role, he oversees the Company’s premier portfolio of news, sports and entertainment assets. Murdoch was instrumental in the spinoff of FOX by 21st Century Fox and the establishment of FOX as a standalone public company.

When speaking to the Financial Times, Jake Lush McCrum, the 29 chief executive who oversees the operations of the Royals Sports Group , said the franchises would drive investment in local cricket infrastructure and development. “The fact is, cricket is the biggest sport in India, but it’s not in other countries,” said McCrum. “Growing the sport in other countries will benefit the IPL, will benefit India and benefit the broader ecosystem.” “We lose money on South Africa, we lose money on CPL [the Caribbean Premier League]. We’re not going in and making profit,” he added.

“The fact is, cricket is the biggest sport in India, but it’s not in other countries,” said McCrum. “Growing the sport in other countries will benefit the IPL, will benefit India and benefit the broader ecosystem.” “We lose money on South Africa, we lose money on CPL [the Caribbean Premier League]. We’re not going in and making profit,” he added.

All in all, the ownership group behind the Paarl Royals are hugely influential in their individual fields and they see South Africa as an integral piece of their global cricket puzzle. They have expertly employed technology and stats to help them build a strong brand in India and they will be hoping to do the same here.

That concludes the Know Your Owner review of the Paarl Royals.