Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has filed a legal complaint against ride-hailing company Uber, accusing it of trademark infringement and harming the team’s reputation through a YouTube advertisement featuring Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Travis Head.
The matter reached the Delhi High Court on Thursday, where arguments from both parties were heard. The court has reserved its decision on RCB’s request for an interim injunction.
The dispute centres around a 59-second commercial titled “Baddies in Bengaluru ft. Travis Head,” released by Uber Moto.
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The video, which has gained over 1.3 million views, shows Head riding through the streets of Bengaluru before reaching a stadium.
There, he alters a “Bengaluru vs. Hyderabad” sign by spray-painting “Royally Challenged” over the Bengaluru name—something RCB views as a direct insult to its brand.
RCB’s legal team argued that the use of “Royally Challenged” is not light-hearted humour but a deliberate attack on the franchise’s identity.
They claimed that such wording diminishes the club’s image and commercial value.
Uber, a sponsor of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, defended the ad as harmless promotional content.
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Its lawyers said the campaign fell within the bounds of commercial free speech and was simply intended as friendly banter in the run-up to the May 13 match between RCB and SRH at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
They also highlighted that Travis Head did not directly call RCB “baddies” in the video.
Instead, his role was portrayed as someone ready to trouble the opposition—an indirect pun on his own name.
The legal tussle has stirred broader discussions on the limits of satire and rivalry in sports advertising, especially within the lucrative IPL arena.
With the match approaching, this off-field row has added an unexpected twist to the on-field competition.
