The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will this month discuss plans for the future of The Hundred that could see teams enter into a three-way ownership venture that could split the county game.
The current Hundred format sees the ECB own the eight teams with counties given cash payouts for playing hosts to the tournament. But new proposals, first reported in the Telegraph, suggest the eight teams could each be split between three ownership groups.
The ECB could hand 51 per cent of each team to a host county, such as the Oval Invincibles to Surrey and Birmingham Phoenix to Warwickshire.
Hundred split
English cricket’s governing body would then sell up to 30 per cent of its 49 per cent share of each county to private investors, while the host county would also be free to sell as much or as little as it wished.
Before going to market the ECB and counties would agree an entry price and the move could see one of the teams enter into a three-way ownership structure with the county, an investor and the ECB.
However the move would threaten to cut adrift counties without franchises in the Hundred, such as Durham and Somerset – who have been key in producing top talent across the English game.
Any new team into the competition wouldn’t come in until 2029 at the earliest.
There have previously been discussions on whether foreign investment from the likes of India or the United States could come in and purchase a stake in the Hundred itself, but that looks to have been put off for now.
In 2022 Bridgepoint Group made a £400m offer for a 75 per cent stake in the competition.
Frenzy
At the time ECB chair Richard Thompson said: “There’s a feeding frenzy at the moment – rights holders have never seen a rise like the one they have [recently] and the Hundred will undoubtedly get more and more interest as a unique format that finds an audience the others don’t.
“We’re open but treading carefully in that space. We’re not going early.”
The Hundred, a version of the game only played in the UK, begins towards the end of July and has been popular with fans in its earlier seasons. Southern Brave are the current women’s champions with the Oval Invincibles reigning holders in the men’s version.
The final takes place on 18 August at Lord’s with the men’s final following the women’s edition at the Home of Cricket.