Lancashire want to rival United and City as sporting attractions in Manchester

Lancashire believe their new IPL partners can help the county’s Hundred franchise “challenge” Manchester United and Manchester City as attractions in “the UK’s number one sporting city”.

RPSG Group, the owners of Lucknow Super Giants, have agreed to pay around £80million for a 70 per cent share of Manchester Originals, one of eight investment deals that will bring more than £520m of new money into the domestic game and an immediate £25m into the Red Rose coffers.

While the paperwork has still to be completed and the terms finalised, collaboration has already started between the two parties, with ambitious words to match.

Lancashire chief executive Daniel Gidney expects a major uplift in terms of both resources and glamour for both the team and the region.

Speaking at a launch event at Emirates Old Trafford, just a stone’s throw from its footballing namesake, he said: “We’ve talked about Manchester being probably the UK’s number one sporting city. There you go, I said it.

“Manchester is a global sporting capital…a powerhouse. We want the Manchester franchise in the Hundred to be become the third biggest sports team in Manchester and challenge those two sports teams in Manchester (United and City).

“That is the scale and level of the ambition of both of us as partners. I have been to IPL games and the whole playbook, the use of colour, the use of branding, data acquisition, the fandom is off the scale. It’s something that is stronger than the Premier League, in my words.

“This is something that is incredibly exciting for us and that is why we wanted to partner with an IPL team and we always have done. You’ve got a 1.4 billion population of people who adore cricket, why wouldn’t we want to inject a bit of that energy and passion into Manchester and Lancashire?”

Shashwat Goenka, vice chairman of RPSG, admitted his group had initially moved for a stake in the Lord’s based London Spirit side – losing out to an exorbitant bid to a Silicon Valley consortium which offered £145m for a 49 per cent holding.

But he was enthusiastic about the tie-up.

“While we did bit aggressively for Lord’s, we stopped at a point and I’m extremely happy with Manchester. We are very excited with this investment. It’s going to be a formidable partnership,” he said via an appearance on video link from Kolkata.

“From a cricketing standpoint, it is one of the only sports in the world that has the kind of viewership that it does globally across race, caste, culture, religion, any of that. Manchester is a global sporting hub…one of the top five sporting cities across the world.”

England opener Phil Salt, who plays for Lancashire and the Originals and also has experience of the IPL, is also expecting the influx of cash to provide a shot in the arm for a competition which has always divided opinion among cricket fans.

“I think there’s definitely a new level for this tournament to find,” he said.

“At the inception of the IPL, I suppose their ambition was to bring the world’s best tournament that we’ve ever seen and that’s exactly what they’ve done. We sit here today knowing full well that our ambition is to bring the world’s best cricket to Manchester.

“It’s going to be a huge benefit for both the men’s and women’s game. Now there’s going to be increased funds available, it’s going to be a boost for the infrastructure of the game. I think a lot of the (England) guys share that sentiment, that this is the start of realising that ambition.”

Goenka suggested he was happy to proceed with the 100-ball format that marks the Hundred out from its T20 counterparts, chipping away at the idea that IPL owners are keen to force a change.

He deferred an answer on changing the name to Manchester Super Giants, though that is an alteration that could be incoming in 2026.