Hundred returns with its future up for discussion

No active discussions have taken place over a change to the playing format, but talks have occurred about expanding the number of teams amid ongoing conversations with potential investors.

The fourth edition of the franchise tournament begins today with its future still unresolved, with the England and Wales Cricket Board eager to bring in private investment to secure its long-term position in the sport and to boost the finances of domestic counties.

And Vikram Banerjee, ECB’s director of business operations, has opened the door to investment from NFL chiefs.

Banerjee added: “I’ve now met and spoken to a number of times all the IPL (Indian Premier League) owners and WPL (Women’s Premier League) owners that don’t overlap and there is interest there, from what they’ve told me, which is fantastic and lends into a very exciting process.

“I would really hope we have a level of partnerships with some IPL teams, I think that would be brilliant. They have done a great job and know cricket very well.

“At the same time, we’ve just sent out a document and video to some NFL owners that explains what cricket is and what the rules are. In terms of fan engagement, how they can build stadia experience and bring in the next generation, those guys are amazing.

“So, we can bring that blend together, which I think is what we hope to do and that can work really well.”

Meanwhile, dialogue has taken place with Indian Premier League owners over acquiring a stake in The Hundred’s eight teams, but ECB chief executive Richard Gould played down the immediate prospect of a tweak to its format.

A report in the Guardian last weekend stated possible investors wanted the 100-ball format to revert to a Twenty20 competition, which is unable to happen until after the 2028 season when the current television rights cycle would have to be renewed.

Gould said: “We’ve seen speculation on the format. We understand and we see in terms of the Olympics and the (Twenty20) format they are adopting, but we’re not having any active discussions with regards to changing the format at this point.

“In terms of the eight teams that we’ve got, we’re having really good, positive conversations with all of our stakeholders.

“We understand and we see the need for a potential expansion of the competition at some point going forwards. That is certainly something that has been discussed over the last five or six weeks with our stakeholders.

“We’re not saying exactly how that expansion could and would happen at this point because there are a lot factors that would need to come into play on that. But, there is an ambition within the game that we would like to see the competition expand at some point.”

Asked if that expansion would be allied with a broadcasting cycle, Gould confirmed: “Yeah, I think that is absolutely bang on.

“We want to make sure when we expand, we’re not delivering dilution in terms of value across our stakeholders. It needs to be a net-net increase in terms of the investment that is available so we can do it properly.”

The ECB has enlisted Raine Group and Deloitte to advise on its investment process, which will see interested parties bid for The Hundred teams from September with a rough timescale of a completion by the 2025 draft around the end of February.

A 49 per cent share of each team is set to be sold by the ECB to private investors and this allows host teams to retain 51 per cent of shares.

However, host teams can also sell part of or all of their shares.

“There is certainly the opportunity for people to have potentially 100 per cent ownership within these. It depends on the capabilities they can bring both in terms of finance and operation delivery,” Gould said.

n Birmingham Phoenix travel to Oval Invincibles for the first matches today – the women starting at 2.45pm and the men at 6.30pm.