Latest news with #HundredFranchises
The Guardian
31-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
ECB admits no evidence Hundred has attracted new fans to other forms of cricket
Richard Gould, the ECB's chief executive, has admitted his organisation has no evidence that new fans attracted by the Hundred have gone on to attend other forms of the game. The governing body of cricket in England and Wales has long boasted that the tournament has attracted a different audience to existing formats. 'The Hundred is all about throwing cricket's doors open – and it's already delivering,' the ECB's then chief executive, Tom Harrison, said after the first tournament in 2021. 'We need to grow cricket, reach more people, and that's exactly what the Hundred does.' A report published last October stated that 31% of tickets for the Hundred have been bought by women, that 23% were bought for juniors and that 41% of buyers attended in family groups. But on the day that counties received their first downpayment on the windfall generated by external investment into the eight Hundred franchises Gould said no work had been done into finding out if any of those new fans remain involved in the sport during the 11 months of the year when the tournament is out of action. 'That's probably a bit of work that we now need to do going forward,' Gould said. 'Just to check that when people do come in, where do they go? Because you might get some coming in to Test cricket [who] then go to the Hundred, and Hundred into Test cricket. We haven't done that work in any great detail.' That lack of work is particularly surprising given that cross-pollination between formats is one of the ECB's primary goals. 'Fandom is really important for us, whether it's England, Leicestershire or London Spirit,' Gould said. 'That's the key. We've got a really dedicated core audience, which is relatively small compared to other sports. And then we've got lots of people that are very interested in cricket but perhaps don't come to it as often as we want. We know that the interest is there, we just need to get people to come more often for all formats, rather than just that 'I've been to the Test once a year' type of thing.' This year's Hundred, which starts at Lord's next Tuesday, is likely to be the last before new owners start to push through significant changes, from team names and kits to the length of the format itself. 'That's the kind of conversation we're starting to get into now,' said Vikram Banerjee, the tournament's managing director. 'It would be slightly odd to bring all these great people in and then just leave it as it is.' Deals for the sale of part or full stakes in six of the eight Hundred franchises were finalised this week, with the final two expected imminently. The total investment has been put at £520m of which an initial sum of 'just north of £400,000' has now been released to every county. In all host counties can expect to receive a minimum of £18m, and non-hosts around £25m. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion The possibility of adding a ninth team to the competition has already been discussed, but current non-hosts have been warned against spending their windfalls on unnecessary stadium upgrades as they jostle for position in the queue. 'When giving guidance as to what a future expansion team needs to look like in terms of facilities, we're not going to be setting huge capacities,' Gould said. 'What we don't want is a load of empty plastic seats around the place. We're not looking to see investment going into creating white elephants.'
The Guardian
30-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Deals for six Hundred franchises completed with £520m windfall expected
The ECB has announced that deals for six of the eight Hundred franchises have been completed, with a total windfall of £520m expected once paperwork for the final two teams is finalised later this year. The sales process was completed in February, when eight parties entered into an exclusivity period having agreed deals which valued the teams at a combined £975m. Work has been ongoing to formalise the sales over the last five months, with the process described as being 'in the final straight' as long ago as April, with signatures at that point expected 'very, very soon'. But the complexity of the legal arrangements – one county executive said 73 different contracts had to be agreed and signed off before the sale of a minority stake in their one franchise could be completed – and the new investors' desire to have as much control as possible over the competition's future combined to delay the announcement. The completed deals involve the purchase of 49% stakes in Birmingham Phoenix, Southern Brave and the Lord's-based London Spirit, a 50% stake in Welsh Fire, 70% in Manchester Originals and the complete takeover of Northern Superchargers by India's Sun TV network. Oval Invincibles and Trent Rockets remain in the process of finalising deals for 49% stakes, which are expected to conclude by the end of September. Proceeds are to be shared between professional counties and the grassroots game. 'This investment will not only fuel the competition's growth but also channel transformative levels of funding into our professional counties and grassroots game,' said Richard Thompson, the ECB chair. '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.' The ECB retains ownership of the competition itself, its regulations and the length and timing of the window in which it is played. But the investors will hold various vetos, including over its potential future expansion, and alongside the ECB and host counties will be represented on a new Hundred board. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion 'The Hundred has created a stage where tradition meets innovation and fans of all ages are tuning in,' said Kaviya Maran, head of sports at Sun TV. 'It's a gamechanger and we are here to help push it even further. For someone who is passionate about the game's future, especially bringing more women and younger fans into it, this investment felt like a no brainer.'
