Brave sale values Hundred teams at more than £900m

Southern Brave's sale to the co-owners of Indian Premier League side Delhi Capitals has taken the total value of the eight Hundred teams to more than £900m.

GMR Group completed a takeover of host county Hampshire last year, so were widely expected to take full control of the Brave in Wednesday's final auction.

In pricing the whole franchise at around £98m, the entire value of the eight Hundred franchises comes to about £920m.

The total money raised to be shared among the 18 counties, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and domestic game is around £550m.

All deals now enter an eight-week exclusivity period, meaning they are due to be completed at the beginning of the English season.

With Delhi taking control of the Brave, it means four of the eight Hundred teams are linked to the IPL, fulfilling the England and Wales Cricket Board's wish for a "blend" of investors.

Final auctions began almost two weeks ago, concluding a sale process that began in September with more than 100 interested parties.

Surrey negotiated a £60m price with the owners of IPL side Mumbai Indians for a 49% stake in Oval Invincibles, the county keeping the 51% given to them by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Warwickshire agreed a 49% sale of Birmingham Phoenix to Birmingham City owners Knighthead Capital for £40m and Glamorgan sold the same stake in Welsh Fire to IT entrepreneur Sanjay Govil for £40m.

The most eye-catching deal was the £145m a consortium led by Nikesh Arora agreed to pay for a 49% share of London Spirit.

Lancashire became the first county to sell part of their share when agreeing a deal for 70% of Manchester Originals with the owners of IPL team Lucknow Super Giants for around £81m.

And Yorkshire became the first county to sell their entire stake when the Sun Group, owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad, agreed to pay just over £100m for Northern Superchargers.

On Tuesday, Chelsea owner Todd Boehly agreed to pay just under £40m for a 49% share in Trent Rockets.

The arrival of the investment is not likely to result in widespread changes to The Hundred for the 2025 season, which the ECB has referred to as "transitional".

Alterations are expected over the following winter, which could include changes to team names, colours or branding.