Arora pointed to the IPL, the largest and most successful franchise cricket league in the world.
After being founded in 2008, the IPL’s latest TV and streaming rights deal, signed in 2022, is worth $6.02bn. The figure puts it alongside the NFL in the United States and English football’s Premier League as the richest sports leagues in cost-per-match terms.
“We’ve seen a successful template which has been executed in India,” said Arora. “The question is, can that template be replicated in England?
“If you look at it from an economic perspective, can you take the league and make it extremely popular? What the IPL has become in India, can you actually create that appeal in England? Can you create appeal on a global basis? That’s part of our plan.
“Don’t forget the scarcity value of eight franchises which exist in a sport. And if you look at the media business. The only linear thing left is sport. And if you look at least the last five years, every sports franchise has incremented value by multiples. So this is not just a heart decision. There is some more thought than just a heart decision.”
Although control of the Hundred teams has been given over to the investors and the eight host venues, the England and Wales Cricket Board has retained control of the competition itself.
A further option to increase revenue from the Hundred would be to add to its current eight teams, much like the IPL grew from eight to 10 sides in 2022.
Any potential growth in The Hundred would not come before the end of the 2028 season, which is the end of the current broadcast rights cycle, and Arora believes there is potential for growth.
“It’s crawl, walk, run, right?” he said. “The crawling has happened and this is the moment to stand up on its feet and walk.
“If we can execute perfectly the next two or three years, there’s no reason why you should limit the aspiration.
“That’s a decision to be taken the future, and should be taken by the collective league when all the eight teams are in a place where, yes, we can, we can take this further.”
Top Indian players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah are currently barred by the Board of Control for Cricket in India from playing in overseas franchise leagues, protecting the value of the IPL.
IPL teams have invested in leagues in South Africa, the Caribbean, UAE and US but have yet to find a way to get current India internationals into those leagues.
Arora admits that bringing India players to The Hundred is one way to increase its appeal, but did also not rule out taking Hundred matches abroad or pitting the champions of The Hundred against the winners of other leagues.
“Players is a decision that needs to be made by the BCCI in partnership with the ECB and the IPL owners,” he said.
“I’m sure they’ll make the right decisions. In the long term, if you want global appeal for the sport and these franchises, then it’ll be useful to have people represented from other parts of the world.
“If you want global appeal, you should find a way of including other players from around the world.
“If you want global appeal, this should be played at times that are conducive to most cricket-friendly countries in the world. There are so many different ideas.
“Who knows? Maybe league champions will play each other. We’ll see.”
