Cricket is an old sport that has evolved over centuries. But 2025 is shaping up to be a historic – and lucrative – year for the game in England and Wales.
For the first time, private equity investment has entered the domestic game, changing the business structure of professional cricket forever. The source of this corporate interest – worth around £550 million – is the league of eight teams known as the Hundred.
Established in 2021 by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the focus of the Hundred was appealing to new audiences who have not engaged with cricket before.
It is a much shorter format than traditional forms of the game such as the four-day County Championship competition, or the One Day Cup, which is made up of 50 overs (300 balls) per side.
With the Hundred, each side gets 100 balls to bowl at their opponent’s wickets. The highest number of runs wins. It’s very simple. And entertaining.
Not everyone is a fan of course, and there has been criticism of the tournament’s design, its addition to an already congested cricket calendar, and the fact that only eight of the 18 county cricket clubs (CCCs) are involved.
But the ECB stood firm. And given the recent investment into the Hundred, it will no doubt feel vindicated.
Because the cash is sorely needed. Our research shows that CCCs have struggled financially for a while, and are overdue an economic boost.
To help with this, the Hundred started off with the ECB owning all eight teams or “franchises” in the league. Now it has sold 49% of each franchise and gifted the remaining 51% to each Hundred-hosting county.
So now, for example, 51% ownership of the Oval Invincibles is in the hands of Surrey CCC. Each hosting county was then given the option of selling their share – and so far Yorkshire and Lancashire have done just that.
The total sale of the franchises has generated £550 million, far exceeding expectations. From that, 10% (£55 million) will be ringfenced by the ECB to invest in measures to increase participation in cricket throughout England and Wales.
A slightly complicated division of the rest of the spoils then basically leaves each Hundred-hosting county cricket club with £18 million (plus the 51% ownership of the franchise). The non-hosting CCCs will receive around £32 million each.
For context, in 2023, Surrey CCC had the highest revenue at £65 million, while Leicestershire had the lowest at £5.5 million. So a one-off injection of £18 million would represent significant growth for clubs across the scale.
But it’s not all good news, as the influence of private equity may cause internal conflicts about a CCC’s strategy. For while the ECB has said it will remain in control of the Hundred as a competition, the primary goal of the franchise sales is to achieve a return for investors.
