Auction of the Lords-based London Spirit cricket team was won by a group of technology billionaires, including the CEOs of Google and Microsoft. The consortium, led by Nikesh Arora of Palo Alto Networks, outbid competitors in a live auction conducted by the England and Wales Cricket Board. The deal sets a record benchmark for the sale of a sporting franchise.
The transaction dwarfs the £123m sale of the Oval Invincibles franchise, completed by the Ambani family on Thursday, with the ECB expecting proceeds of around £145m from the sale of London Spirit.
This brings the total proceeds from the franchise sales to nearly £250m, which will be distributed throughout the sport.
The intense bidding for London Spirit, the most prestigious name in the Hundred tournament, reflects the enormous sporting heritage of Lords. The deal also represents a world record in terms of the price attached to London Spirit as a multiple of its five-year forward profit projections.
Among the other investors in the winning consortium are Egon Durban of Silver Lake, a private equity backer of various sports organizations.
The bidding process saw a three-hour battle between RPSG Group and the tech billionaires, with the latter emerging victorious.
The ECB has already sold its stake in Birmingham Phoenix to Knighthead Capital for over £80m, and will auction stakes in other teams in the following weeks.
The unexpected high price for London Spirit has surpassed the ECB’s original financial projections, with the three franchises sold so far valued at around £500m.
Bidders in auctions with multiple participants can submit binding offers in 15-minute intervals with minimum increments of £3m. Losing bidders may have the opportunity to participate in remaining auctions. For auctions with only two bidders, a sealed bid shootout will determine the winner.
The proceeds from the auctions will benefit the hosts, non-host counties, and grassroots game. The financial windfall from the process could help struggling counties pay down debt, though concerns remain about long-term financial sustainability.
The outcome of the Hundred auction could raise further questions about the future of cricket and its commercial relevance in comparison to shorter-format competitions.
Raine Group is handling the Hundred auction, the same firm that oversaw significant stakes in Manchester United and Chelsea sales. The ECB has chosen not to comment on the matter.