The profile of the new-found investors in the eight teams from English cricket's short-form Hundred will be of benefit when selling international broadcast rights, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has said.
At a briefing attended by Sportcal earlier today, ECB chief executive Richard Gould told media: “The overseas TV market is very important for us – we've got a wide-ranging set of investors which will provide extra value for international broadcast rights.”
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Four of the new investors in the eight Hundred franchises – with the stake sales process completed yesterday, as the Southern Brave were sold off – own teams from the glamorous Indian Premier League (IPL), arguably the most popular sporting property in cricket's biggest market of India.
This has led to speculation that the investors will use their reach and influence in that market – as well as in other countries where they own teams – to boost the appeal and value of the Hundred from a media rights perspective.
The eight sides now have a total value of just over £975 million ($1.21 billion), with the stakes sold amounting to £520 million in revenue for the ECB, it was outlined today. The governing body has kept control of the competition itself, meaning it controls the time window, format, number of teams, and overall structure.
Currently, the entire overseas broadcasting value of the Hundred is believed to be around £2 million ($2.5 million), but the ECB is understood to feel that valuation will go significantly higher in five and 10 years' time.
However, Gould also said that there are currently no plans to host games at a time more convenient time to an Indian audience (this would probably necessitate an early afternoon start for games).
Gould also said, on this same topic, that he expected the investors to “have significant involvement” in helping select future broadcast and commercial partners for the competition.
The CEO commented: “Look at some of the investors we’ve got on board, look at Reliance [the Indian conglomerate which now has a 49% stake in the Oval Invincibles franchise] and some of their business interests elsewhere.
“So, yes, we do expect them to be involved.”
However, both of these aspects of the tournament ultimately remain the ECB’s responsibility going forward.
Reliance also controls – through a joint venture – the broadcaster Disney Star, one of cricket's most prominent Indian broadcast partners. Up to this point, FanCode has been covering The Hundred in India, but it is entirely possible this could change over the next few years, thanks to Reliance’s involvement.
The 2024 season of the city-based competition was also shown overseas by broadcasters such as Willow TV and DAZN in North America, ESPN in the Caribbean, SuperSport in sub-Saharan Africa, and Fox Sports across Australia and southeast Asia.
In future, the competition’s broadcast rights will be sold as a separate package to the rest of the top-tier international and domestic cricket played in England.
In terms of brand sponsors, meanwhile, the ECB is currently in charge of central marketing, with the list of overall partners including Compare the Market, New Balance, New Era, Sure, Sage, and Indian fantasy gaming site Dream11.
For team-specific sponsors, it is anticipated that the new investors will be heavily involved in helping select these in the future.
Gould also stated that the ECB would be “foolish” to not listen to the Hundred investors when it comes to potential thorny subjects such as hosting games overseas, and that importantly, all these stake sales “can be revisited in future.”
On the subject of opting to sell stakes in teams as opposed to the main competition itself, he said: “We didn’t want to sell the whole competition, it’s really important that the structure is retained and owned by the ECB. One of the key elements is having the window length defined, and this way it cannot be increased without reference to ECB members.”
In late 2022, the ECB turned down an offer of £400 million for the whole tournament from the Bridgepoint Capital private equity firm.
Gould has now said that the range of new partners coming in “represent some of the best sports investors globally. They have great ambitions and want to drive the game forward.
“The Hundred is at the vanguard of where we’re taking the game, and this gives the whole sport the opportunity to move forward.”
In terms of potential future expansion of the Hundred, meanwhile, Vikram Banerjee, director of business operations at the ECB, said that if the tournament grows as it is expected to, thus increasing the sport's profile all over England, then this option would be “close to a no-brainer.”
He stated: “Expansion is a good sign if it happens – we would be delighted if it does. If the tournament grows, and cricket grows across the country, then that’s close to a no-brainer for us.”
While it might be a long-term aim, no additional teams can be added until the ECB’s current domestic broadcast rights deal covering the tournament – with Sky – comes to an end following the 2028 campaign.
Banerjee, on the subject of whether the unique 100-ball format – hence the tournament’s name – will eventually change to Twenty20 (a format played worldwide), said: "The format has worked well in reaching out to a new market, there hasn't been a clamor to change to Twenty20 – the investors just want to see a successful tournament that continues to grow.”
