Silicon Valley billionaires splurge £144m on London Spirit in Hundred auction The Hundred is set to deliver an eye-watering windfall for English cricket that exceeds all projections after a Silicon Valley consortium featuring the chief executives of Microsoft and Google claimed a 49% share in London Spirit for £144m.
The ECB’s stake in Welsh Fire, the process for which was delayed by the bidding war for the right to partner with MCC, went to Sanjay Govil, a tech entrepreneur who also owns Washington Freedom in the USA’s Major League Cricket.
Defending champions in the women’s Hundred, but perennial bottom feeders in the men’s tournament, London Spirit were always likely to attract the highest amount of interest given the prestige of co-owning teams that play home fixtures at Lord’s.
Reliance, owners of Mumbai Indians and run by the Ambani family, secured that stake on Thursday, with Birmingham City investors Knighthead claiming the right to buy 49% of Birmingham Phoenix later that day.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has now raised around £279m after similar stakes in Oval Invincibles (£60m) and Birmingham Phoenix (£40m) were claimed 24 hours earlier.
