The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced the finalisation of six deals with 'strategic partners' for franchises in The Hundred. Two more teams are set to sign the dotted lines in October 2025. The partnerships are estimated to be valued at a whopping over 975 million collectively, and will inject more than 500 million into English and Welsh cricket. 50 million is also set to be invested in grassroots cricket. The deal also marks a historic moment in the Hundred League as it becomes the first-ever UK sports league to secure this massive deal.
The two deals, which are supposed to finalise in October, involve Reliance Group acquiring a 49% stake in Oval Invincibles and Cain International & Ares Management acquiring 49% of Tent Rockets. Both the business giants can complete their respective deals at a later date. ECB only offered them options to complete the business deals in October this year.
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As of now, six Indian investors have bought a stake in The Hundred. London Spirit - Tech Titans, Birmingham Phoenix - Knighthead Capital Management, LLC 49%, Manchester Originals - RSPG Group (70%), Northern Superchargers - Sun TV Network Limited (100%), Southern Brave - GMR Group (49%), Welsh Fire - Washington Freedom (50%)
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Indian investors in the spotlight in The Hundred
For the unversed, all eight franchises in The Hundred will now get Indian investors. Barring Welsh Fire & Cain International & Ares Management, the rest of the six teams will have Indian investors who also own IPL franchises. Among the six franchises, only Sun TV Network Limited owns a full hundred per cent share of The Hundred League. After this group, the RSPG group owns a 70% share.
