The Hundred: Sanjiv Goenka goes beyond Mukesh Ambani to bid for the London-based franchise
Published - 24 Oct 2024, 12:01 PM | Updated - 24 Oct 2024, 11:36 PM
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Owners of IPL (Indian Premier League) teams Sanjiv Goenka and Mukesh Ambani have shown interest in buying stakes in franchise teams of The Hundred. Both Indian billionaires have offered bids to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
ECB is set to sell 49% stakes of each team to investors. Other than Ambani Group and RPSG Group, Glazer siblings (owners of Manchester United) and Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein have also shown interest in buying stakes in The Hundred teams.
The first round of the bidding process concluded on Friday and over 100 bids were placed for the 8 franchises. All 8 teams have been valued at more than 650 Euros. ECB is expected to raise more than 500 Euros after the bidding process, as per sources.
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Sanjiv Goenka offers the highest bid among Indian investors
Notably, Indian billionaire Sanjiv Goenka- the owner of RSPG Group- has offered the highest bid among Indian investors. He has offered a 140 Euros bid for the Lord's based franchise London Spirit.
It is valued more than the bid placed by the Ambanis- the owners of IPL team Mumbai Indians. Notably, there are many bids in the 140+ Euro range for The Hundred's teams.
Sanjiv Goenka is also the owner of IPL Team Lucknow Super Giants, which was formed ahead of IPL 2022. He previously owned the Rising Pune Supergiants team, which played in the 2016 and 2017 seasons of the Indian Premier League.
ECB looks to sell 49% of stakes in every franchise
Notably, the bids for the first round were for 100% stakes for the teams. However, the ECB is only going to sell 49% stakes of every franchise of The Hundred to investors. The rest 51% stake will be with the host county and the host county can either keep the entire 51% stake or sell some more of it.
Hence, the first round of the bidding process is expected to generate more than 500 million Euros from the 49% stakes. Later, the host county will earn from the next round of bidding. The team owners will receive 80% of broadcast, ticket, and sponsorship revenues.
The Hundred has 8 men and 8 women teams
The Hundred is a franchise cricket tournament based in the United Kingdom. Unlike other franchise T20 leagues, it has slightly different rules like 100 balls per innings and overs of 5 or 10 balls. Oval Incivincibles were the champions of the recent 2024 season.
The tournament commenced in 2021 and has witnessed four seasons so far. There are a total of 8 men and 8 women teams that compete in The Hundred.
They are Oval Invincibles, Birmingham Phoenix, Southern Brave, London Spirit, Machester Originals, Welsh Fire, Northern Superchargers, and Trent Rockets. The men's and women's tournaments are played simultaneously from August to September months every year.
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