The ECB has been accused of being ‘disconnected from reality’ in their financial projections for the Hundred and valuations of the eight franchises.
Lalit Modi, the man behind the Indian Premier League, has gone public with his discontent with the information provided by the ECB as they attempt to auction off 49 per cent of the eight sides.
In a document seen by Telegraph Sport, the ECB claim that domestic TV rights will rise from £54 million to £85 million annually – figures Modi believes are plausible.
However, Modi has called out the projections for TV revenues outside the UK. It is understood that Indian TV rights are projected to rise from £1.3 million annually to £1.8 million per year from 2026 to 2029, and then increase to £15 million per year from 2030. Indian players are currently unable to play in The Hundred.
North American TV rights are also a source of concern of Modi, who called the figures he had been given ‘far-fetched’. Those rights are currently valued at £200,000 per year, but in the ECB document are projected to rise to £5 million per year from 2027, before a further jump to £15 million annually from 2030. That would be an increase of 7,500 per cent on the current deal.
Modi has also taken aim at the valuation of the franchises, which estimate they are worth £25 million each in the best-case scenario; Modi values the Manchester Originals only at £8.5 million.
In a final twist of the knife Modi also said The Hundred would not be able to match the Caribbean Premier League’s profitability, issuing a public warning to would-be investors.
“The ECB’s financial projections for The Hundred, particularly beyond 2026, appear overly optimistic and disconnected from reality,” said Modi in a statement posted on X.
“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.
“Domestically, while an increase in TV rights from £54 million to £85 million is plausible, the optimism around sponsorship post-2027 is far-fetched. The ECB’s hope for sustained sponsorship growth into 2029-30 seems more like wishful thinking than a realistic forecast.
“Even giving them the benefit for 2027-28, there’s no solid basis to expect sustained revenue growth at the scale predicted. The ECB’s optimism pales in comparison to the IPL, where teams are valued at $1 billion (£744,535,000) based on 16 years of performance. 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.
“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.
“THINK TWICE BEFORE INVESTING see the ebida [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation] of all teams as reflected in the information memorandum given out by ECB to prospective buyers.”
Telegraph Sport has approached the ECB for comment on Modi’s criticisms.
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