IPL franchises fighting with Microsoft and Google for ownership of The Hundred teams

The franchises of the Indian Premier League are in a tussle with global tech giants like Google and Microsoft for the ownership of The Hundred teams. It is to be noted that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has shortlisted a few candidates as it aims to sell the ownership of eight The Hundred teams.

The IPL teams who are in the running for ownership in The Hundred are Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Lucknow Super Giants. The GMR Group, co-owner of Delhi Capitals, has also bought a majority of ownership of Hampshire recently and is aiming to buy Southern Brave in the Hundred.

The ECB shortlisted the candidates on December 23 after consulting with the investors and the host counties of the eight franchises. The investors were allowed to bid for all eight franchises in the initial round but the ECB picked one investor for each franchise according to their wishlist.

Watch: Coldplay’s Chris Martin tells Jasprit Bumrah "We don’t enjoy watching you..." at Ahmedabad concert

IPL franchises fighting with Microsoft and Google

According to ESPNCricinfo, all the investors will need to make one financial bid, which will be the final bid as well. The highest bidder will get the ownership of the respective franchise.

The board has also confirmed that the final bid cannot be lower than the floor valuation price. The bidding process is not yet over and the new owners will only take control of the teams from the year onwards.

As expected, both the teams based in London, London Spirit, and Oval Invincibles, have received the highest number of investors. Surprisingly, Manchester Originals have also proved to be equally popular among investors.

Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians and the tech giant Lancer Capital, which is run by Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer, are targeting Oval Invincibles. Both these investors have shown the highest amount of interest in London-based teams.

Major tech giants interested in The Hundred franchise's ownership

The organization is also believed to be interested in London Spirit and has been shortlisted as well. The home venue for the Spirit is the iconic Lord's. The organization consists of tech giants like Sundar Pichai (Google CEO), Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO), Shantanu Narayen (Adobe CEO), Egon Durban (Silver Lake Management CEO) and Satyan Gajwani.

Gajwani is one of the co-founders of USA's Major League Cricket (MLC) and also the vice-chairman of Times Internet. Mumbai Indians have been shortlisted for Manchester Originals as well. MI is interested in the Originals because the two iconic football clubs come from the same city - Manchester United and Manchester City.

Sanjeev Goenka, the owner of IPL's most expensive team Lucknow Super Giants, is also shortlisted to buy London Spirit. According to the reports, RPSG's valuation in the initial rounds was a nine-figure value. They have also been shortlisted for the Manchester Originals and the other two franchises.

Other teams interested in buying The Hundred teams

There have been some other IPL teams like Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, and Punjab Kings who have expressed their interest in buying teams in the Hundred. But Punjab Kings and Royals have not been shortlisted for any team.

It is not clear whether the Super Kings and Knight Riders have been shortlisted or not. Both these franchises already have teams in overseas T20 leagues outside India. A US-based entrepreneur Sanjay Govil, who currently owns Washington Freedom in MLC, is interested in three teams in The Hundred. All these teams are outside of London.