The former chairman and founder of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lalit Modi, has accused the England Cricket Board (ECB) of being not aware of the reality behind their ambitions for the upcoming season of the Hundred 2025 after leaking the financial structure for the tournament and the valuations for each of the eight teams.
A host of owners from the IPL franchise, like the Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals, and Delhi Capitals, have shown their interest in buying a stake in the 100-ball tournament, which has eight teams in the tournament– Manchester Originals, Trent Rockets, Northern Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave, Welsh Fire, Birmingham Phoenix and London Sprit.
In the domestic market, the ECB earns nearly 38 million pounds a year and expects nearly 125 percent to 85 million pounds in the 2029-32 cycle of the competition.
“They are trying to build hype in a tournament that is not worthwhile in the way they presented it.” Lalit Modi has expressed to Cricbuzz.
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The document, as reported by Cricbuzz, also confirms that the rights for the 2025-28 cycle have already been sold for 51 million pounds a year to Sky Sports, with an expectation of 3 million pounds a year from the Free to Air (FTA) broadcast deal.
“India Media Rights: contracted through 2028 at an average annual value of 1.8M pounds – the forecast assumes a new deal with an average annual value of 15.0M pounds in 2029, as the world’s largest cricket market.” The 87-page presentation has stated.
Lalit Modi leaks the confidential financial structure of the Hundred
In a recent post on X (formerly known as Twitter, Lalit Modi published the details of the ECB’s financial projection, along with a lengthy post in which he dismissed the calculations as unsustainable.
It’s quite surprising given he was reportedly an interested party in the whole development, as he told ‘The Telegraph’ that he had valued the Hundred at US$1 billion over the ten years, and he had the private investors to get behind the expanded ten-team tournament.
“The ECB’s financial projections for The Hundred, particularly beyond 2026, appear overly optimistic and disconnected from reality.” Lalit Modi wrote about the dissection. “The International TV rights figures make little sense, given the global competition from other cricket leagues like the IPL. It’s unlikely The Hundred will attract the necessary international audience to justify these inflated numbers.”
The ECB is understood to have expected a pushback against the figures with the investors seeking a favorable deal. Nevertheless, the establishment of the IPL in 2008 by Lait Modi brought out the full potential of T20 cricket, which in the present time has reached to a different position.
“By contrast, as per my analysis, The Hundred’s teams are projected to be worth a mere £5 million to £25 million in the best-case scenario in my MOST CONSIDERED #VIEW, with Manchester maxing out at £8.5 million.” He added.
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Fifteen years after the start of the IPL, the media rights have secured a record value of US$6.2 billion, being addressed as the second most-valued sports league per-game basis, only behind the NFL. Lait Modi also penned down that all the teams, who are involved in the event, are valued at US$1 billion based on their performances for 16 years.
“Worse still, The Hundred struggles to match even the Caribbean Premier League’s profitability, a sobering indication of its financial frailty. The Hundred appears to be on shaky financial ground, with projections that fail to inspire confidence in its long-term viability as these look dangerously overambitious and unsustainable.” Lalit Modi concluded.