Brighton owner Bloom looks to add French Ligue 1 club to portfolio May 28, 2025 In this week’s Ahead of the Game: Brighton owner Tony Bloom, football films, The Hundred sale, rugby rights and the National League. Brighton owner Tony Bloom is exploring a potential investment in a French club after completing his purchase of a 29 per cent stake in Scottish Premier League side Heart of Midlothian this week. [...]
Richard Thompson: England cricket chief re-elected until 2028 May 22, 2025 Richard Thompson will remain chair of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) until 2028 after winning a second term. He was initially appointed for a five-year term in 2022 but ECB members have since voted to reduce terms to three years, with chairs able to serve a maximum of two terms in the role. [...]
London Spirit £144m sale nearly done, insists MCC chief May 20, 2025 MCC chief executive Rob Lawson insists a £144m deal between a consortium of US tech heavyweights and the owners of Lord’s Cricket Ground for a 49 per cent stake in Hundred franchise London Spirit is just a “couple of weeks away from getting everything done”. It comes after the initial timeline for eight Hundred deals [...]
Exclusive: India players from IPL close to Hundred cricket inclusion April 7, 2025 Senior figures in English cricket are confident that India will release current men’s internationals to play in the Hundred as soon as next year. India’s governing body the BCCI has not permitted their male stars to play in overseas T20 competitions, maintaining their exclusivity to the Indian Premier League. But with four of the eight [...]
Exclusive: Hundred franchises could do own sponsorship deals April 2, 2025 Teams in the Hundred could soon be allowed to negotiate their own front-of-shirt sponsorship deals, as the England and Wales Cricket Board, counties and prospective investors finalise the sale process. The ECB struck deals to sell 49 per cent stakes in the eight Hundred franchises to a variety of international investors earlier this year in [...]
ECB facing pressure to drop prices in Hundred franchise sale April 2, 2025 The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) could be asked to accept less than the £520m offered by new investors for 49 per cent of the eight Hundred franchises if they refuse to hand over control of the competition’s next television contract, which will begin in 2028. The ECB wants to continue its successful policy [...]
Man who spearheaded £975m Hundred sale rewarded with new job by ECB February 27, 2025 Vikram Banerjee, the man who spearheaded the sale of eight minority stakes in the Hundred, has been rewarded with a promotion by the England and Wales Cricket Board. Banerjee will take up the role of managing director of the Hundred after the competition saw its eight franchises valued at £975m after a series of auctions [...]
Ambanis and Boehly: Who owns the Hundred teams after £975m sale? February 13, 2025 With the sale of Southern Brave confirmed on Wednesday, all eight of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s 49 per cent stakes in Hundred franchises have been sold. Sellers, counties and buyers will now enter into exclusive negotiations on the details but it is expected to run, mostly, without a hitch. The valuations placed on [...]
Kolkata Knight Riders lose Trent Rockets Hundred team to Chelsea owner February 11, 2025 The face of Chelsea’s US ownership group, Todd Boehly, has won the auction to purchase 49 per cent of the Trent Rockets Hundred franchise. The deal, which would value the Nottingham-based team at £79m, is the penultimate Hundred franchise to be sold, with Southern Brave expected to be auctioned to Hampshire owner the GMR Group [...]
Surrey to keep majority as Mumbai Indians owners confirm Oval Invincibles stake February 10, 2025 Surrey have confirmed that they will remain majority owners of the Hundred franchise Oval Invincibles after taking investment from super-rich Indian family the Ambanis. The family, through Reliance Industries Limited, have agreed to purchase a 49 per cent share in the south London side in a deal that values them at around £125m. It was [...]