Richard Thompson, the new chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has rejected a rumored £400 million offer to purchase a majority stake in the Hundred, stating that the controversial tournament is worth “a few billion” to the commercial sector.
Private investment firm Bridgepoint Group had recently made an offer for 75% of the Hundred, a sum that Thompson deemed “exaggerated” and which the ECB graciously denied when facing the media during the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.
Instead, Thompson feels that the sale of a single franchise in the Indian Premier League this year, when the Lucknow Super Giants were purchased for $940 million (£760 million), indicates that the price for an entire league should be significantly higher.
Reiterating the ECB’s openness to private investment, Thompson stated, “We would have to give it a great deal of thought before selling four or five weeks of the English summer to a third party. We will not, however, be opportunistic. We will think things thoroughly and not undervalue the game.
“The IPL team Lucknow Super Giants was sold for $1 billion.” One group. This should set a value standard. I believe we have a long way to go before taking action.
“It has been two years. There is no chance that in two years a tournament will be as valuable as it will be in three, four, or five years. To sell the summer would require astronomical sums of money. As I’ve already stated, if an IPL franchise is worth a billion dollars, then we’d need quite a few billion dollars to sell the summer.”
Thompson stressed that the ECB should not “fixate” on private investment in the Hundred, emphasizing, “There is a great deal of unrealized value in the game.” Together with Richard Gould, the incoming chief executive who is also in Pakistan, he intends to strengthen the T20 Blast and ensure its preeminence.
Thompson feels that after a year without a permanent ECB chair and a vast gap between Tom Harrison’s resignation as chief executive in May and Gould’s start date in January, the English game has been without a strong voice at the International Cricket Council’s top table for too long.
Thompson aims to push back against the ICC’s decision to introduce an annual global men’s event, which, together with the growth of franchise T20 tournaments, is constricting bilateral cricket.
He continued, “If the game only pursues money, it will consume itself and pay a steep price. Coming here has nothing to do with money. The stadium’s slogan, “One game, one passion,” says it all.
“Cricket, possibly more than any other sport, can transcend geopolitics and unify nations. It cannot simply be about money. We as the ECB must advocate for this. If we are to be primarily pushed by broadcasters putting on franchise cricket tournaments — there are currently 15 – that will be excessive. Bilateral cricket will cost something.
“We must assist Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other nations. How shall we proceed? It operates on the principle of reciprocity; if we go there, they will come to us. Otherwise, it’s just five nations playing each other, while the rest are left behind.”
