Landmark Hundred sales move step closer

As Thursday’s closing round of the sale of teams kicks off, an important moment in English cricket will get closer.

Oval Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix will join the eight franchises that have been matched to preferred investors on Wednesday with the release of the 2025 season fixtures.

In the upcoming days, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will announce the eight successful investors next week along with the other six teams.

Owners of Premier League football clubs and Indian Premier League (IPL) teams, along with figures from technology and entertainment, are among those vying for a stake.

The sale process will be officially completed in the late spring, with the exception of the eight-week exclusivity period during which preferred bidders will have to agree to a franchise deal.

After rejecting a bid for the tournament from Bridgepoint Capital in 2022, the ECB will continue to control the competition itself.

The sales, which are anticipated to bring in hundreds of millions of pounds, are intended to safeguard the financial viability of an investment-seeking English game.

Vikram Banerjee, the head of business operations at ECB, described it as “absolutely exciting.” We have a chance to learn from other sports that have done it and done it really well. I believe that this will encourage a rapid growth of the entire game.

Still, The Hundred is a highly divisive presence in English cricket, with some supporters believing it detracts from other, more traditional, forms of the game.

There is hardly any international cricket in August of this year to make room for The Hundred.

Some people worry that inviting outside investment will lead to The Hundred’s occupying more space in the schedule because it will mean “privatizing” a portion of the summer.

The hosts of the eight teams have a 51% ownership stake in the franchise, which they can either sell or keep, with the ECB selling the remaining 49%.

The eight hosts are Lord’s (Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) /London Spirit), The Oval (Surrey/Oval Invincibles), Southampton (Hampshire/Southern Brave), Cardiff (Glamorgan/Welsh Fire), Trent Bridge (Nottinghamshire/Trent Rockets), Edgbaston (Warwickshire/Birmingham Phoenix), Old Trafford (Lancashire/Manchester Originals) and Headingley (Yorkshire/Northern Superchargers).

Of the 51% the hosts have been given, they can keep all, or choose to sell all or part of their stake. Some, like Surrey and Warwickshire, want to keep their entire stake, while others – such as Lancashire – are open to selling some of it and Yorkshire may opt to sell all of theirs.

More than 100 potential buyers had been initially contacted by the ECB, which has since been gradually reduced to around 15 bidders.

For each franchise, two to four bidders have been chosen. Some investors are on the shortlist for more than one franchise, so if they miss out on their first choice, they may be successful elsewhere.

Given the investments already being made in various leagues around the world, IPL connections are unavoidable. In September, Delhi Capitals’ co-owners completed the purchase of county club Hampshire, leading to the eventual acquisition of Southern Brave.

With the owners of the Mumbai Indians and the Lucknow Super Giants believed to be in the running, Lancashire has been open about its desire to work with US investors.

However, the ECB has been working to attract funding from a variety of sources, and some Hundred franchises are trying to prevent interference in cricketing matters.

Oval Invincibles, for example, could be partnered with a consortium of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, or the private investment firm CVC, which is thought to have made it through to the final round of the auction.

Todd Boehly, a shareholder in Chelsea, and members of the Glazer family, co-owners of Manchester United, are reportedly among those interested in acquiring a stake in London Spirit.

“We are looking to find the best eight partners who can support the tournament’s growth and also use this process to raise money that will enable a generation to have financially sustainable income,” said Banerjee.

“We’ve got a real variety in our shortlist. It’s a really exciting moment. I believe that this will encourage a rapid growth of the entire game.

There has been some controversy, however. IPL founder Lalit Modi leaked financial forecasts for the sale on social media in September, including those that he described as “disconnected from reality… dangerously overambitious and unsustainable.”

On Tuesday, the ECB responded to a report claiming that some prospective investors were frustrated with the sales process, defending it as “thorough and rigorous” in a statement.

The ECB has a key goal: to draw in more of the best men’s players to The Hundred, a venue where top leagues from the US and the Caribbean square off against one another. By enabling the offer of higher salaries, this objective should be met.

Although the top men’s players’ pay will increase from £125,000 to £200,000 in 2025, the sales will be too late for any other significant changes to be made this year.

The ECB sees the upcoming season as “transitional”, with more tangible changes in 2026. These could include team names, colours and branding being altered.

In 2025, the London derby means the defending champions in the men’s and women’s competitions, the Invincibles and Spirit respectively, are in action on the opening day.