NFL legend Tom Brady could soon be seen at Edgbaston after Knighthead Capital Management LLC, where the former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay quarterback has a business partnership, picked up a stake in Hundred franchise Birmingham Phoenix. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Knighthead made a winning bid of £82 million on Thursday, the opening day of the ECB’s sale of the eight Hundred franchises.
The amount Knighthead bid was equivalent to 100% value of the franchise, which means they will pay close to £41 million for the 49% stake in Phoenix. None of the stakeholders, including the ECB, Warwickshire – Phoenix’s host county – and Knighthead have made any comment.
Brady’s association with Knighthead could prove a shot in the arm for the Hundred if he can draw interest – both from fans and commercially – to cricket, a sport that has been attempting for several decades to widen its footprint. Brady already has a presence in Birmingham after he bought minority ownership in Birmingham City, a third-tier football club in England.
Knighthead are understood to have declared the winner through the sealed bid exercise which was put in place by ECB for franchises with only two investors on the shortlist. While global fund manager CVC Capital were meant to be originally on the shortlist to buy a stake in Phoenix, it could not be confirmed if they made a bid.
Knighthead bought Birmingham City in 2023 and have proved popular with the club’s supporters despite their relegation to League One last season. Tom Wagner, Knighthead’s co-founder and the club’s chairman, has pledged to invest over £2 billion in a new “sports quarter” in the city and has bought a new 48-acre site for a new stadium.
In the other auction conducted on Thursday, CVC, who own Gujarat Titans in the IPL, were among the three contenders to buy a 49% stake in Oval Invincibles, which was eventually bagged by Indian business behemoth Reliance Industries Ltd, owners of Mumbai Indians, for about £123 million (100% value). RIL made the highest bid in a live virtual auction, a process decided by the ECB to determine the winner where there were more than two investors on the shortlist. They defeated rival bids from CVC and the consortium of global technology giants comprising heads of Microsoft, Google, Adobe, Palo Alto Networks and Times Digital.
RIL were also on the shortlist for Manchester Originals. It is understood that RIL had successful conversations with Surrey management, the host county for Invincibles, with both parties agreeing to synergise cricketing decisions. Another significant factor was Invincibles, who have won the men’s Hundred competition for last two seasons, being serial contenders for the title, something RIL has placed at the forefront of its investments in the T20 franchise circuit.
The losing bids from CVC and the tech consortium could not yet be confirmed. As part of the virtual auction bidders gave themselves a code name. Though the amount has not been revealed, the base price was determined by ECB from the floor valuation bids submitted by the shortlisted investors in the second round of the sale process in December. During the live auction, each bid was separated by 15 minutes with incremental bids in steps of £3 million.
The next step for the winners will involve them sealing the agreement withing eight weeks after the ECB’s auction process, which is scheduled to finish on February 10. This process will include deciding whether to pay the money upfront or in instalments spread across five years.
