The Hundred’s financial expansion — a new era for English cricket?

Cricket doesn’t typically attract mainstream media attention in the UK during February. However, last month — just four years after its creation — The Hundred hit the headlines after receiving a £975m investment boost.

Here, Will Hardwick takes a closer look at the investment, how it’ll be used and the impact it may have on domestic cricket in England and Wales — from a potential subscription broadcasting model to new formats and player contract types.

What investment has been made?

In May 2024, the ECB (English Cricket Board) announced its intention to sell some or all of the 49% shares it held in the eight team franchises participating in The Hundred. It aims to use the proceeds of sale to boost the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) and both the county and grassroots games. Each host county was also given the option of selling all, part or none of their 51% share in their respective franchises.

As the shares came to market earlier this year, the following investors entered the field of play:

• Reliance Industries Limited — the Mukesh Ambani-owned conglomerate that runs Mumbai Indians of the IPL (Indian Premier League), MI New York of Major League Cricket and MI Cape Town of the SA20 — is buying a 49% stake in Oval Invincibles. Surrey will retain 51%. This stake was valued at £60m.
• Knighthead Capital — a New York-based investment firm — is buying a 49% stake in Birmingham Phoenix. Warwickshire will retain 51%. This stake was valued at approximately £40m.
• Cricket Investor Holdings Limited — a consortium of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs — is buying a 49% stake in London Spirit. MCC will retain 51%. This stake was valued at £145m.
• Sanjay Govil — an Indian-American tech entrepreneur and the owner of Washington Freedom of Major League Cricket — is buying a 50% stake in Welsh Fire. Glamorgan will retain 50%. This stake was valued at £40m.
• RPSG Group — Sanjiv Goenka's conglomerate that runs Lucknow Super Giants of the IPL and Durban’s Super Giants of the SA20 — is buying a 70% stake in Manchester Originals. Lancashire will retain 30%. This stake was valued at approximately £81m.
• Sun Group — the media conglomerate that owns Sunrisers Hyderabad of the IPL and Sunrisers Eastern Cape of the SA20 — is buying 100% of Northern Superchargers. Yorkshire will not retain a financial interest. This deal was valued at just over £100m.
• Cain International — backed by Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly and Ares Management Credit (both private equity firms) — are jointly buying a 49% stake in Trent Rockets. Nottinghamshire will retain 51%. This stake was valued at just under £40m.
• GMR Group — the Indian conglomerate that co-owns Delhi Capitals of the IPL and Seattle Orcas of Major League Cricket — is buying a 49% stake in Southern Brave. GMR is also taking over host county Hampshire. 

However, the ECB has retained ownership and governance of the competition itself. 

How will this investment be used?

The ECB intends to apply the money raised from the sale of the 49% stakes in each franchise as follows:

• Proceeds up to £275m will be distributed equally to the 18 professional counties and the MCC.
• Between £275m and £425m will be distributed between the 11 non-host professional counties (Durham, Essex, Somerset, Sussex, Worcestershire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire, Middlesex and Northamptonshire).
• Proceeds over £425m will be distributed equally between the 18 professional counties and the MCC. 

Since only three franchises sold a portion of their own stake (Glamorgan, Lancashire and Yorkshire), the proceeds from those sales will be distributed as follows:

• 10% distribution to the grassroots game.
• 10% equally distributed across the 18 professional counties and MCC.
• The remaining 80% of the value to be retained by the host county.

How will this investment impact domestic cricket?

This investment is likely to be hugely significant for domestic cricket in England and Wales, with £520m set to be invested back into the professional and grassroots games. This is in addition to the £1.3m subsidy made by the ECB annually to each of the counties.

The money retained by the counties is set to be spent on four key areas by the county boards. These include building reserves, revenue generation, infrastructural improvements and debt reduction. 

For some counties — such as Worcestershire and Leicestershire, which recently struggled with debt repayments and the need to revamp their stadia — the windfall from The Hundred may be the first step in their progress towards sustained profitability. 

Turning to the grassroots game, the ECB is to allocate funding to national and regional projects and invest strategically for the growth of the sport. Moreover, the ECB’s Recreational Game Committee is set to devise an investment plan to help with the long-term sustainability of grassroots cricket.

Is The Hundred set for expansion?

There is speculation that ninth and tenth teams could be added to The Hundred at the end of the current broadcast deal (set to expire in 2028), with Vikram Banerjee (Director of Business Operations at the ECB) confirming that expansion was something of a “no-brainer”.

Expansion could follow the trend set in the IPL — where the additions of Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans have expanded revenues — with the Hindustan Times even reporting that a delay in further expansion may actually cut revenue projections. 

Durham, Somerset, Kent and Gloucestershire have all previously expressed an interest in hosting a franchise. The expansion teams will likely be those with venues that have previously been ‘test’ or ‘international’ venues, with Durham and Bristol likely candidates given their credentials as existing international venues.

Opportunities for further investment

The Times has reported that some of the unsuccessful investors have approached six of the non-host counties about investing privately. It’s reported that Essex, Sussex and Somerset are among the counties that have been approached, while Leicestershire is also seeking private investment. 

The interest in non-host counties follows the sale of Hampshire to GMR Group (owner of the Delhi Capitals IPL franchise), which became the first English county to be sold to an external investor. It’s reported that investors have growing interest in the English game after the success of the investment drive in The Hundred, the potential for future franchises in The Hundred and the potential value of a revamped T20 Blast competition. 

The IPL model 

Following the success of the Indian league, many IPL franchise owners have now begun to follow the multi-club ownership model seen in football — most notably with the City Football Group Limited and Todd Boehly’s BlueCo. 

Nine IPL franchise owners have now invested in teams in either the SA20 in South Africa, the International T20 League in the UAE, Major League Cricket in the USA, The Hundred or the Caribbean Premier League. With cricket now a 365-day a year sport (depending on global location), the appeal of the short-form franchise model continues to grow, with Saudi Arabia now also set to launch a new global eight-team tournament. 

What’s next for The Hundred?

Despite its critics, many would argue that The Hundred has given a crucial boost to the domestic game in England, having brought the sport back on free-to-air TV and with it, an unprecedented level of viewership. 

In addition, by running the men’s and women’s matches back-to-back, the organisers have shone a light on inclusivity within the sport. However, this is likely to be just the beginning for the competition. 

So, what could be next?

• Broadcasting rights — with the BBC’s free-to-air TV deal due to end in 2028, could we see a shift to subscription broadcasters?
• Global brand recognition — within the current franchise multi-ownership groups, teams often follow the same naming patterns and kit colours to create a sense of brand uniformity across the globe. Could we therefore see a rebrand of two of the northern franchises as the Manchester Super Giants or the Northern Sunrisers?
• Player contracts — with many players now taking part in multiple franchise competitions, could we see the introduction of a form of franchise-based ‘central contract’, tying players to a specific global multi-ownership group? Could this also provide an opportunity for Indian superstars to take part in The Hundred? There has been speculation that the IPL franchise owners that have invested in The Hundred are also pushing for an IPL-style auction, with each franchise having an unlimited budget to attract the world’s best players. Currently, each franchise has maximum budget of £1.17m for 15 players, with each player allocated into a certain salary bracket.
• Format change — it’s yet to be seen if the current 100-ball format will change. The ECB has previously stated that there’s no desire to revert to the more traditional Twenty20 format and this is unlikely to change between now and the current TV deal ending in 2028. However, could The Hundred’s new investors seek to align the competition more closely with other global franchise competitions?
• Sport-led regeneration — could the development of the competition lead to improvements to existing stadium and training facilities and in turn have a positive impact on regeneration for surrounding areas?

We’ll have to wait and see what The Hundred’s next innings brings.

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