As the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) looks to secure private investment for the Hundred, it has approached the owners of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises.
The Hundred was launched in 2021 with eight teams taking part in both men’s and women’s events. The tournament introduced a new format, with each innings consisting of 100 balls. While the fourth edition of the Hundred is set to get underway this month, the ECB has continued to work on its plan to secure private investment in the competition.
The ECB not only wants private investment to receive a financial boost, but also to give the tournament a permanent place on the global calendar. According to a report in the Times of India, the ECB also wants to ensure that it retains control of the tournament. To this end, it wants to offer a 49 percent stake in each team to private investors, while the host teams would retain the remaining 51 percent.
“Scrutiny happens at different levels – at team level and at competition level – that’s something we’re not going to give up,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould was quoted as saying by TOI.
“Each group of investors has different needs: for some it is about control of what happens on the field, for others it is the commercial element.
“You’re right about the strength of the Indian market – it accounts for probably 90 per cent of the revenue that comes into the ICC (International Cricket Council) and we’ve seen the proliferation of IPL teams moving out of their home market into other domestic markets. I think that’s something to be welcomed,” he added.
The IPL has been the benchmark for cricket forums across the world. The immense success of the IPL, both in terms of popularity and money, is unmatched. Currently, there is no competition that can be compared to the IPL. In recent years, IPL franchise owners have also made their presence felt outside the country by buying teams in different T20 leagues.
Most of the IPL franchises have teams in the Caribbean Premier League, Major League Cricket, ILT20 and SA20. And the ECB has made it clear that it would like to have a presence in the Hundred as well.
Interested IPL Franchise Owners:
While no IPL franchise owner has yet bought a stake in the Hundred, ECB’s chief commercial officer Vikram Banerjee has confirmed that owners are interested. Banerjee said he has met and spoken with IPL and Women’s Premier League (WPL) owners several times and the meetings have been positive so far.
“I have met and spoken to all the non-overlapping IPL and WPL team owners a number of times and there is interest from what I’ve heard, which is fantastic and makes for a very exciting process. I really hope we have some level of partnerships with some of the IPL teams, I think that would be great. They’ve done a great job and they know cricket very well,” Banerjee said.
