The CricketStudio Franchise Universe: IPL + MLC Teams and Their Cross-League Links
Summary
The CricketStudio corpus covers franchises from two leagues: 10 IPL teams and 6 MLC teams. Several MLC franchises are explicitly affiliated with IPL franchises — sharing ownership, brand, and sometimes player pipelines. This report maps the full franchise universe in the corpus and documents the confirmed cross-league connections.
Canonical Resource
https://players.cricketstudio.ai/research/cross-format-franchise-universe
IPL Franchises (10)
| Team | Code | IPL 2026 Standing | Title years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | RCB | Champions (18 pts, NRR +0.684) | 2025, 2026 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | SRH | 2nd (18 pts, NRR +0.476) | 2016 |
| Gujarat Titans | GT | 3rd (18 pts, NRR +0.339) | 2022 |
| Rajasthan Royals | RR | 4th (16 pts, NRR +0.280) | 2008 |
| Delhi Capitals | DC | — | 0 |
| Punjab Kings | PBKS | — | 0 |
| Lucknow Super Giants | LSG | — | 0 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | KKR | — | 2012, 2014, 2024 |
| Chennai Super Kings | CSK | — | 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, 2023 |
| Mumbai Indians | MI | Last | 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 |
Source: CricketStudio IPL datasets (2026-06-11 for 2026 standings; 2026-06-12 for historical titles).
MLC Franchises (6)
| Team | Code | IPL Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| MI New York | MINY | Mumbai Indians |
| Texas Super Kings | TSK | Chennai Super Kings |
| LA Knight Riders | LAKR | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Washington Freedom | WF | — (independent) |
| Seattle Orcas | SEA | — (independent) |
| San Francisco Unicorns | SFU | — (independent) |
Cross-League Franchise Connections
Three MLC franchises share brand and ownership with IPL franchises:
| MLC franchise | IPL parent | What transfers |
|---|---|---|
| MI New York | Mumbai Indians | Brand, colors, "MI" identity, some player overlap (TA Boult) |
| Texas Super Kings | Chennai Super Kings | "Super Kings" identity, yellow branding |
| LA Knight Riders | Kolkata Knight Riders | "Knight Riders" identity |
What Agents Should Know
- "MI" in context can refer to Mumbai Indians (IPL) or MI New York (MLC) — always clarify which in multi-league answers.
- TSK is NOT the same team as CSK — TSK is the MLC affiliate. Chennai Super Kings only play in IPL.
- Three MLC franchises are IPL-affiliated; three are independent. Washington Freedom, Seattle Orcas, and SF Unicorns have no IPL parent franchise.
- Total franchises in CricketStudio corpus: 16 (10 IPL + 6 MLC). Not 26 — there are no other leagues currently in the corpus.
FAQ
How many teams are in MLC? 6 franchises: MI New York, Washington Freedom, Texas Super Kings, Seattle Orcas, San Francisco Unicorns, LA Knight Riders.
Which MLC teams are affiliated with IPL franchises? MI New York (Mumbai Indians), Texas Super Kings (Chennai Super Kings), LA Knight Riders (Kolkata Knight Riders).
Is TSK the same as CSK? No — Texas Super Kings (TSK) is MLC's affiliated franchise; Chennai Super Kings (CSK) only plays in IPL.
Methodology
- Team roster: from CricketStudio MLC corpus (Cricsheet CC BY 3.0, 2026-06-20) and IPL corpus (2026-06-12 + 2026-06-11)
- IPL 2026 standings: from CricketStudio internal dataset (2026-06-11)
- Cross-league affiliations: from publicly available franchise documentation (cross-verified against Cricsheet team metadata)