Indian and American investors’ revolt derails The Hundred’s mega-franchise sales

The deadline to finalize the deal of franchises of Hundred worth £520 million has been extended by the England & Wales Cricket Board. As per the reports in the Telegraph, it is learned that the dates have moved back because of pushback by buyers of the two London franchises. Reliance Industries, owned by India’s Ambani family, who purchased the Oval Invincibles for £123 million, and Cricket Investor Holdings, the American-led consortium of tech entrepreneurs who paid £295 million for the London Spirit, have raised concerns over the Participation Agreement for The Hundred franchises. ECB CEO Richard Gould will be travelling to India to discuss the agreement with Reliance Industries With Reliance Industries expressing their concerns, ECB CEO Richard Gould will be traveling to India to discuss the agreement with new owners. The window to finalize the deal has been extended to eight weeks until after Easter. The reports claimed that half of the buyers are happy and ready to sign, but the concerns raised by buyers of the two London franchises have put a stop to television deals and issues such as sponsorship and how much say the owners will have in a future Hundred governing council. It is learned that there are issues over sponsors of ECB and those brought in by new owners along with clashes of schedule in 2028 and 2032 with the summer Olympics, where cricket will be played for the first time in a long time. To do discussions with the Ambani Family, the England and Wales Cricket Board has engaged high-powered lawyers Latham & Watkins to act as its co-council in talks with bidders. These are the same lawyers, who were previously involved in the Manchester United sale, and acquisitions of Chelsea and a minority sale in Liverpool. The deal of the Hundred franchises in Oval Invincibles and London Spirit is not done As per the reports, it is learned that the deal of the Hundred franchises in Oval Invincibles and London Spirit is not done. A source close to the Telegraph mentioned that two parties expressing concerns over the participation agreement is a “major issue” and that owners are “flexing muscles with ECB”. But sources close to the ECB suggested that the deals are on track, that nobody is “on the verge of walking away” and that investors just want “security” because they are “putting so much money in”. One of the issues that is bothering bidders is the future television rights deal. Reliance Industries and Cricket Investor Holdings have questioned ECB as to why Hundred’s TV rights cannot be unbundled Currently, Sky Network has the rights to a Hundred, and the deal is until 2028. However, the ECB is trying to keep control of the next deal from 2028-2032, which they want to sell as a bundled deal as well as part of the Participation Agreement. The owners, on the other hand, have questioned ECB as to why Hundred’s TV rights cannot be unbundled and sold separately to the highest bidder, which is how cricket rights deals work in India. This puts the governing body in a spot of bother as breaking the long-standing relationship with Sky would lower the value of Test cricket rights in the process, which forms a major part of the ECB’s income. It remains to be seen if the deal gets finalised or not. Also Read: Watch: ‘Furious’ Virat Kohli hits Matheesha Pathirana for a six and a four after being hit on the helmet