ECB tries to woo NFL teams for Hundred investment by explaining laws of cricket over video

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has sent videos explaining the rules of cricket to owners of NFL teams in the hope they will invest in the Hundred.

The fourth edition of the men’s and women’s Hundred begins on Tuesday against the backdrop of looming investment in the competitions. In September, the ECB will begin a three-month process of selling stakes in the eight teams as they look to reboot the competition from 2025.

The proceeds of the sale will be spread between the 19 first-class counties and the ECB hopes it will provide “seed funding for the financial sustainability of the whole sport”, according to head of strategy Vikram Banerjee, who is leading the process.

Banerjee has met with all Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises over investing in teams, but has also looked to tap into the American market.

“I hope we have partnerships with IPL teams,” he said. “At the same time, we sent out a document and a video to NFL owners that explains what cricket is, and what the rules are. In terms of fan engagement, how they build stadia experience, those guys are amazing. We’d like to bring that blend together.”

Banerjee hopes that private investment will help cricket become more like football through fans’ “tribalism”.

“We must continue to maintain best v best of players, both English and from around the world,” he said. “We must continue to turbocharge the women’s game. The Hundred has done brilliant things for women’s sport but we can’t rest on our laurels.

“We also want to move into more of a tribalism. Football is the example. Everyone talks about their favourite team. I’m an Aston Villa fan for my sins and have travelled up to Middlesbrough, down to Bournemouth and wherever else to watch them. That is where we want to get the Hundred to, with fans of London Spirit travelling across the country rather than seeing it as just a day out.”

Telegraph Sport reported last week that some investors in other cricket leagues around the world were cooling on the ECB’s proposals, which would require investors to partner with the host counties, and possibly not receive a majority stake (the ECB will sell 49 per cent of each team, while gifting 51 per cent to the host venue, who can sell part of or all of their shares.

Richard Gould, the ECB chief executive, said competition from the USA’s Major League Cricket had influenced the decision to go to market this year.

“It’s a competitive global market,” he said. “There’s a lot of competitions. I don’t think they all have a long-term financial future, because they are not in mature markets, whereas we do occupy a spot in a mature market. We need to retain our best players, both men and women, over the next 10-20 years. We need to make sure we can attract the best overseas players. If we were to delay too much, others may end up stealing a march on us. From an investor side, we see that this is a good time to come to market.

“There’s not enough space for everyone [each country’s short-form competition] to have their own window. There is layering up there. We can see who our competitors are in the English summer and we need to be in a position not just to compete but to win.

“We are likely to have to pay more for our players. One of the prime reasons is that we are seeking investment in teams to provide a better platform to compete on a global scale.”

Banerjee added: “I think there are 17 men’s and six women’s leagues. That is not sustainable, so we have to make sure we are there.

“We’ve just had the World Cup in America. We have a heavy investing league in America, we have the LA Olympics in 2028, plus you map that with the subcontinent’s passion for the sport. We feel that if we wait too long, there is a chasing pack behind the IPL which the Hundred is in, but we need to move relatively quickly to make sure we have a world-class tournament.”

Gould said there were “no active discussions” about changing the unique hundred-ball format to a T20 league, but said more teams could be added, most likely in 2029, when the next broadcast cycle is up.

“We are having good conversations with our stakeholders about the number of teams,” he added. “We understand and see the need for a potential expansion of the competition at some point going forwards. There is an ambition within the game that we would like to see the competition expand at some point.”