English cricket’s governing body will on Wednesday hail a landmark moment for the sport when it announces that three-quarters of the deals to bring in new investors to The Hundred have been completed.<\/p>\n
Sky News understands that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) plans to issue a statement confirming that it has received proceeds from the sale of stakes in Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Southern Brave and Welsh Fire.<\/p>\n
The two other franchise deals – involving the Oval Invincibles and Nottinghamshire’s Trent Rockets – will be completed on October 1, the ECB is expected to say.<\/p>\n
One insider said a statement was likely to be issued on Wednesday, although they cautioned that the timing could slip.<\/p>\n
When all eight deals are concluded, they will generate a collective windfall of \u00a3520m for the sport’s strained coffers.<\/p>\n
Last week, Sky News revealed that unresolved talks between India’s richest family and Surrey County Cricket Club<\/a> – which hosts the Oval Invincibles Hundred team<\/a> – were threatening to delay the delivery of a vast windfall for the sport.<\/p>\n One of the outstanding issues relates to the name under which the Oval Invincibles will play in future years, with the Ambani family keen to use a derivative of the Mumbai Indians brand that it also owns.<\/p>\n This week’s announcement will come after months of talks after the ECB and the eight Hundred-playing counties agreed exclusivity periods with their preferred investors.<\/p>\n The backers include some of the world’s most prominent financiers, billionaires and technology executives.<\/p>\n Following protracted talks, the ECB has agreed to revised terms with the investors, with host venues now retaining control of their teams’ intellectual property rights.<\/p>\n The investors will also hold an effective veto over future expansion of the Hundred, while the ECB will be barred from launching any other short-form professional version of the sport while the Hundred remains operational.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the governing body will retain full ownership of the competition itself as well as controlling the regulation of it and the window within which it can be played each year.<\/p>\n The ECB has been waiting for investors in the eight franchises to sign participation agreements since an auction in February, which valued the participating teams at just over \u00a3975m.<\/p>\n Some of the deals involve the investors owning 49% of their respective franchise, while India’s Sun TV Network has taken full ownership of Yorkshire’s Northern Superchargers.<\/p>\n The proceeds of its stake sales will be distributed to all of English cricket’s professional counties as well as \u00a350m being delivered to the grassroots game.<\/p>\n The windfalls are being seen as a lifeline for many cash-strapped counties which have been struggling under significant debt piles for many years.<\/p>\n