Silicon Valley billionaires have made a significant splash in the world of cricket with an astonishing £144m investment in a 49% stake of the London Spirit in The Hundred competition. The deal, which values the franchise at £295m, marks a new milestone for English cricket, far surpassing earlier expectations and projections. This acquisition is the largest of the day’s auction, which saw multiple high-profile bids for stakes in various teams.
The Hundred is proving to be a major windfall for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), raising over £279m in total from sales of stakes in teams like the London Spirit, Oval Invincibles, and Birmingham Phoenix. The £144m bid for London Spirit was the standout, setting a new bar for franchise ownership in the competition, which is designed to bring cricket into the mainstream with a fresh format and exciting gameplay.
The consortium behind the winning bid is led by Nikesh Arora, CEO of cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks, and includes a host of top tech leaders such as Sundar Pichai (Google), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), and Shantanu Narayen (Adobe). Their success in securing the stake in London Spirit came after a fierce bidding war. The competition for the franchise included Sanjiv Goenka, the owner of the Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League, and Avram Glazer, representing Lancer Capital. The intense auction lasted for three hours, described by insiders as a “battle of egos,” with the tech consortium ultimately outbidding their rivals.
The London Spirit franchise’s valuation of £295m was a surprise to many, especially since the team has had mixed performances in the competition so far. Despite being defending champions in the women’s Hundred, the men’s team has struggled, often finishing at the lower end of the standings. However, the appeal of owning a team that plays its home fixtures at Lord’s, the iconic cricket ground in London, undoubtedly helped push the bidding to new heights.
The London Spirit deal also highlights the increasing interest in The Hundred from high-net-worth individuals and corporations looking to invest in cricket. The competition has seen other significant bids, such as the £60m raised for a 49% stake in Oval Invincibles and £40m for Birmingham Phoenix. These amounts already exceeded initial expectations, and with four more teams left to be auctioned, it is clear that The Hundred is attracting considerable attention.
Following the sale of the London Spirit, the next major auction was for a 49% stake in the Welsh Fire, a team based in Cardiff. This stake was sold to Sanjay Govil, a tech entrepreneur who owns the Washington Freedom in the USA’s Major League Cricket. This sale raised £35m, valuing Welsh Fire at £70m. While this is a lower valuation compared to London Spirit, it still reflects the growing interest in The Hundred, with several other stakeholders showing interest in acquiring stakes in the remaining franchises.
In total, the ECB is on track to exceed its combined target of £350m for the sale of the 49% stakes in all eight of the competition’s teams. The money generated from these sales will be distributed across England’s 18 first-class counties, the Marylebone Cricket Club, and grassroots cricket, providing much-needed funding for the sport’s development.
The ownership model and the impact of these high-profile investments will become more evident from 2026 onwards. While the 2025 season of The Hundred is expected to remain largely unchanged, the new owners will likely bring in fresh ideas, with some franchises possibly undergoing name and color changes. These developments are set to reshape the landscape of English cricket and ensure that the competition continues to grow in prominence and influence.
