ECB could offer IPL franchises a stake in The Hundred teams

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is all set to offer the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises a stake in The Hundred teams. The board is also ready to give the Indian council a share of Asian television rights to attract players like Virat Kohli and others to take part in the tournament.

The Hundred is set to get underway on July 22, 2021. The event was scheduled to take place in 2020 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, the talks between the ECB and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are currently underway.

As per reports in The Telegraph, the talks made quite a bit of progress when Ian Watmore, the chairman of the ECB, and Tom Harrison, the chief executive of the ECB, were in Ahmedabad during India’s last Test against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

ECB looking to take The Hundred to the Indian audience

It has been learned that the ECB is looking forward to stitching together a number of partnerships with India. The ECB is also looking to capitalise on the power of gambling. The England board has two options to choose from:

• The eight IPL franchises each taking a 25% stake in a team allocated to Hundred.
• Give BCCI a share of the revenue from broadcast revenues in Asia, the value of which would correlate with Indian actors listed in the Hundred.

Talks regarding IPL teams playing in England with testing grounds have also been doing the rounds. Going by reports, the ECB has been asked to provide more content on the same as they seek to recover from the losses incurred during the coronavirus pandemic.

Tickets for the tournament will be going on sale in April. The opening match will be played between Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals. The ECB is also hoping for full capacity during the matches and is wishing for the BCCI to take it as an investment opportunity.

Rajasthan Royals (RR), the 2008 IPL champions, and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the 2012 and 2014 champions, have already put forth their desire to buy The Hundred franchises. For the time being, nothing has been finalised and more developments are awaited.

For all the latest IPL News, live scores, schedule, point table & updates, stay tuned to CricTracker.