What has been the impact of new owners on The Hundred?

New Ownership and the Reshaping of The Hundred

Ninoda.com – The men’s final at Lord’s on Sunday delivered Manchester Super Giants their franchise’s first-ever title, capping a season defined by dramatic late-stage survival. Jos Buttler guided the side through to victory after they weathered a tense closing period, while Trent Rockets had already claimed the women’s crown earlier in the tournament.

The contrast between those two champions tells a story about identity and reinvention. The Rockets retained their established name and palette throughout; the Super Giants, by contrast, are a franchise reborn from scratch under new capital.

A Changing Room Moment That Captured a Problem

In the aftermath of a Sunrisers Leeds victory, players were filmed belting out “Marching on together!” — unmistakably the Leeds United anthem, awkwardly adapted for a cricket squad. Lyric sheets circulated around the room. Several players broke into laughter, as though performing a task assigned by an over-enthusiastic wedding best man. Sunrisers posted the clip to social media shortly after the win, then pulled it down.

The brief existence of that video encapsulates a central challenge facing The Hundred in its first year following private investment: several franchises have been rebranded entirely — Sunrisers now occupy the slot once held by the Northern Superchargers. Tradition cannot be fabricated overnight, yet forging a coherent team identity remains essential for attracting fresh audiences.

Bold Moves at Old Trafford

Manchester Super Giants emerged from the ashes of the Originals franchise after RPSG group — headed by Indian billionaire Sanjiv Goenka — acquired a 70% stake, with Lancashire retaining 30%. The logo changed. The colours changed. Everything changed.

Goenka’s parallel venture in cricket’s commercial heartland, the IPL’s Lucknow Super Giants (established in 2022), has yet to reach that competition’s final. His Hundred investment, however, produced instant silverware within its inaugural season under new ownership.

Daniel Gidney, Lancashire’s chief executive and a member of the MSG board, argues that restraint is not an option when launching a brand into a football-dominated city.

“If you’re trying to launch a new brand in a new market, in the UK particularly, in a city that is dominated by football, you’ve got to go big and loud.”

One such gambit saw nearly 30,000 free shirts distributed to Super Giants supporters attending matches.

“To give everybody a free jersey who bought a ticket is extraordinarily different. You can’t normally do it because a kit manufacturer will go, ‘No, no, no. I’ve got to sell that kit for £60-80.’ You never get anything for free. It’s had a massive impact, much more than I thought.”

The first-year decision was to sacrifice a potentially smaller apparel contract in exchange for brand visibility — getting fans wearing the colours now, with the expectation of a far more lucrative supplier arrangement down the line.

What Lancashire Gains

Lancashire’s own merchandise continues to be sold at Old Trafford on matchdays. Conversely, MSG products are not currently stocked in the county club shop. Gidney describes the arrangement as allowing Lancashire to “retain effectively 50% merchandise arrangements” with the franchise, treating MSG as a “bit of a pilot” whose lessons could feed back into the T20 Blast competition.

The franchise also banked £275,000 in prize money from the title win and will look to convert newly acquired supporters into sustained attendance momentum.

Squad and Leadership Shifts

The men’s campaign was disrupted when captain Aiden Markram departed midway through the group stage, returning to South Africa for personal reasons. Buttler assumed leadership without visible disruption. Equally consequential was the appointment of former Australian international Tom Moody as director — a figure who had steered Oval Invincibles through three straight men’s Hundred titles before his move to Manchester.

Moody will work alongside compatriot Justin Langer, brought in as coach this season and holding the identical role at Lucknow. The women’s side narrowly missed qualification for the knockout rounds but appear well placed going forward if they retain legendary former Australia captain Meg Lanning in charge.

Other Franchise Approaches

Not every new-owner strategy demands total reinvention. London Spirit, based at Lord’s, preserved the blue-and-black palette of their predecessor kits while incorporating the red and yellow stripes associated with Marylebone Cricket Club — a subtler layering that still signals institutional continuity.