Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: ECB offered £400 million for a 75% stake in The Hundred | Bridgestone Group plc offers ECB £400 million for a 75 per cent stake in the Hundred
British private investment company Bridgestone Group plc has approached the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) with a £400 million offer to acquire a 75 per cent stake in the Hundred. The proposal is likely to attract the attention of counties that are running low on cash already, ESPNcricinfo reports.
However, the ECB is likely to turn down the offer as it had created the concept of the Hundred to give rise to a fresh revenue stream. Hence, giving away its control over the league after just two complete seasons does not appear to be a plausible move just yet.
Bridgestone is particularly interested in the women’s Hundred, with the ECB attracting spectators to the tune of 271,000 in women’s matches in the previous season of the competition. The aforementioned offer by the investment group has the potential to put in around £300 million worth new money in the English cricket system.
We’re treading carefully with regards to the Hundred – ECB Chair
Earlier this week, Richard Thompson, the ECB chair told The Guardian, “There’s a feeding frenzy at the moment. Rights holders have never seen a rise like the one they have [recently] and the Hundred will undoubtedly get more and more interest as a unique format that finds an audience the others don’t.”
“We’re open but treading carefully in that space. We’re not going early. It’s just two years old, we can’t get greedy, we have to see it play out. The worst thing would be to do something too early, then see the value go through the roof and you’ve lost out and someone else benefits. It’s important to let it grow and develop first,” Thompson remarked, potentially hinting that the ECB sees the overall value of the league skyrocketing in the future.
The Hundred has been fitted into the ECB calendar at least until 2028 but the league will be subject to a High Performance Review by Andrew Strauss. Their recommendations include reducing the number of days dedicated to red-ball cricket and also creating a month-long window for the Hundred in August. These suggestions will very probably be rejected by counties that already arguably dismayed by the space occupied by the league in the cricketing calendar.
