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Silicon Valley and Indian investors spend big as English cricket goes up for sale

By KEN MAGUIRE and STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writers

Foreign investors have been googly-eyed about English soccer for decades.

Now, they are buying into an even more quintessential English sport — cricket.

Auctions of franchises in a tournament called The Hundred have attracted investors from India, Silicon Valley and New York over the past few days.

The competition, similar to the lucrative and popular Indian Premier League, features flashy uniforms and NFL-style player entrances through smoke plumes.

It was a change of pace for traditionalists when it debuted four years ago — in part to attract younger fans and more women. Each franchise has a men’s and women’s team.

With the eight franchises now up for auction, English cricket — struggling financially, particularly after the pandemic — is set to make more than 500 million pounds ($620 million) through the sale of teams that have American-style nicknames while playing in some of the most-storied cricket stadiums in the world.

The headliner so far has been the billionaire tech consortium that has agreed to buy a 49% stake in the London Spirit for a reported price of 145 million pounds ($180 million). The group includes Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The Spirit play at Lord’s — the ground in northwest London often referred to as the “home of cricket” and the equivalent of St. Andrews in golf.

Several teams have drawn interest from Indian buyers — not a surprise given the country’s passion for the sport.

But some U.S.-based investors are joining the party, too. Knighthead Capital Management, which counts NFL great Tom Brady among its investors, has agreed to buy a 49% stake in Birmingham Phoenix for a reported 40 million pounds ($50 million). The group already owns Birmingham City soccer club.

Knighthead co-founder Tom Wagner said The Hundred “represents a significant growth opportunity.”

A bonus for American investors? There’s no pesky relegation from The Hundred, so no need to fret over a bad season pushing your team out of the top-flight and costing you millions.

What is the auction, and why is it happening?

The England and Wales Cricket Board are looking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars by selling shares in the eight franchises which take part in The Hundred — London Spirit, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave, Birmingham Phoenix, Manchester Originals, Welsh Fire, Northern Superchargers and Trent Rockets.

Investors can buy a minimum 49% share of the franchises, which are currently owned by the affiliated counties. Those counties can choose to sell part or all of their remaining 51% stake if they wish.

The ECB reportedly had a target of raising a total of 350 million pounds ($435 million) from the auction but is on course to comfortably exceed that, helped by the major deal for London Spirit.

So who is buying the teams?

The successful investors have come from India and North America so far.

Aside from the Silicon Valley consortium and Knighthead, the other U.S.-based investor is Sanjay Govil, an Indian-American tech entrepreneur out of Washington DC who also owns Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket, the new American cricket league.

As for the Indian investors, three have come from the IPL. Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Group, the owner of Sunrisers Hyderabad, have agreed to buy the entire stake of Yorkshire-based Northern Superchargers for a reported 100 million pounds ($125 million). That came after a 49% stake of London-based Oval Invincibles was taken by Reliance Industries Limited, owner of Mumbai Indians, for a reported 60 million pounds ($75 million) and 70% of the Manchester Originals was bought by RPSG, owner of Lucknow Super Giants, for a reported 81 million pounds ($100 million).

There is a good chance that GMR Global Pte Ltd, a part-owner of Delhi Capitals, will take a share of Southern Brave. That’s because GMR already has a strategic partnership with Hampshire, the south-coast county team affiliated to the Brave.

A stake of Nottingham-based Trent Rockets is yet to be sold. That should happen in the coming days.

Where will the money go?

Proceeds from the sales will be split 19 ways — between the 18 long-established county teams in the English and Welsh domestic game and the Marylebone Cricket Club, which owns the storied Lord’s ground and is regarded as the guardian of the laws of the game.

A large donation will also go to the recreational game in England and Wales.

What does it mean for the 2025 edition of The Hundred?

The investors will enter an eight-week period of exclusivity so their partnerships with the franchises can be finalized.

It means there is unlikely to be any major changes to the 2025 edition of The Hundred, which takes place from Aug. 5-31.

The impact is likely to be felt starting in 2026, with changes to team names among the many possibilities.

The Hundred has been running since 2021.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.