The Hundred Mar 05, 2026

The Hundred: Takeovers of six franchises completed as ECB pledges £500m grassroots investment

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
The Hundred: Takeovers of six franchises completed as ECB pledges £500m grassroots investment

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have confirmed the completion of "six strategic partners" for six of the teams in The Hundred.

The remaining two are set for formal completion at a later date but they remain on track and in line with the ECB having offered investors the option of completing at a later date. This will see Reliance Group take 49 per cent of Oval Invincibles and Cain International & Ares Management owning 49 per cent of Trent Rockets.

The six deals which have now been completed are Tech Titans taking a 49 per cent stake in London Spirit, Knighthead Capital Management, LLC, on behalf of its investors ("Knighthead") taking a 49 per cent stake in Birmingham Phoenix, RPSG Group with a 70 per cent stake in Manchester Originals, Sun TV Network Limited coming in with 100 per cent of Northern Superchargers, GMR Group with 49 per cent of Southern Brave, and Washington Freedom with 50 per cent of Welsh Fire.

The completion of these investments comes just a week before the start of the 2025 competition and from it, "more than £500m of total proceeds when all deals are complete to be shared between professional counties and the grassroots game".

In most cases, investors will operate their franchise in The Hundred in partnership with the host club and they will take over operational control from October 1, 2025.

ECB Chair Richard Thompson, said: "The Hundred has already played a vital role in growing cricket in England and Wales - attracting new audiences, elevating the women's game, and delivering high-quality entertainment. The sheer scale of global interest we've seen throughout this process highlights just how much potential remains to be unlocked.

"With these new partners on board, we're entering an exciting new phase and a seminal moment for cricket in England and Wales. Their global perspective and track record in elite sport and business will help us reimagine what's possible - from deepening fan connections to attracting even more world-class players.

"Crucially, this investment will not only fuel the competition's growth but also channel transformative levels of funding into our professional counties and grassroots game. This will ensure cricket continues to thrive at all levels across England and Wales for generations to come, supporting our broader ambitions to become the country's most inclusive sport and driving cricket into harder to reach and under-served communities."

Tags:

the-hundred news

Share this article

Related Posts

Andrew Flintoff appointed Northern Superchargers men's team head coach in The Hundred

Andrew Flintoff appointed Northern Superchargers men's team head coach in The Hundred

Andrew Flintoff has been confirmed as head coach of the Northern Superchargers men's team in The Hundred.The 45-year-old, who played over 200 times fo...

The Hundred: Salaries increased in women's competition with top players to receive £50,000

The Hundred: Salaries increased in women's competition with top players to receive £50,000

The top women's players in The Hundred will now earn £50,000 after the ECB allocated an extra £100,000 to each of the eight teams in the competition.L...

The Hundred: London Spirit beat Welsh Fire in tense final to claim the trophy for the first time

The Hundred: London Spirit beat Welsh Fire in tense final to claim the trophy for the first time

London Spirit beat Welsh Fire by four wickets to claim The Hundred trophy for the first time at Lord's after Deepti Sharma smashed a six off the penul...

England captain Heather Knight says widening gender pay gap for top players in The Hundred 'not ideal'

England captain Heather Knight says widening gender pay gap for top players in The Hundred 'not ideal'

England captain Heather Knight says it is "not ideal" that the gender pay gap for the top players in The Hundred will widen in the 2025 season.The top...

The Hundred: Oval Invincibles retain men's title by beating Southern Brave in final at Lord's

The Hundred: Oval Invincibles retain men's title by beating Southern Brave in final at Lord's

Oval Invincibles became the first men's side to win The Hundred back-to-back after they retained the trophy by beating Southern Brave by 17 runs in th...

The Hundred investors: Tom Brady, Chelsea's Todd Boehly, IPL team owners and big businesses all secure stakes

The Hundred investors: Tom Brady, Chelsea's Todd Boehly, IPL team owners and big businesses all secure stakes

Sports team owners and billionaire businessmen are among the high-profile investors who have secured stakes in The Hundred ahead of the 2025 season. T...