Delhi Capitals have shown interest in buying Hampshire County Cricket Club. As per reports, a £120m (INR 1278 crore) deal has been agreed upon where the group will have full ownership of Hampshire and will also have a 51% stake in Southern Brave as well, featuring both men’s and women’s Hundred as well. Meanwhile, the IPL franchise will also have the opportunity to convert it to 100% ownership in the future as well.

However, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) asked the IPL franchises in January with the offer to own stakes of teams in The Hundred as well. While many franchises showed interest, GMR group is likely to have cracked a deal first. Reports also claim that they have defeated the RPSG group – owned by Sanjeev Goenka, who also owns Lucknow Super Giants – to own Hampshire as well.

Meanwhile, Rod Bransgrove, who still owns 60% of shares after stepping down in 2023, is likely to sell it to GMR Group. The club has a debt of £60 million (INR 639 crore) and the club’s value increased to £100 million (INR 1065 crore) as well during the process of negotiation. As per the Daily Telegraph, the increment in valuation was measured considering the international fixtures and strong ticket sales of Utilia Bowl (cricket stadium at Hampshire) as well. Alongside this, the GMR Group will also take control of the stadium, the Hilton hotel and a golf course also.

Besides Hampshire, Northamptonshire and Durham can also sell their shares. All the other County Clubs are owned by members, which doesn’t allow them to sell their stake ‘without fan input’ as well. After GMR group secured its deal with Hampshire, it will be interesting to see if other IPL owners show interest in Northamptonshire and Durham or if they solely focus on buying stocks of The Hundred teams only. They are believed to be in negotiation and multiple deals are likely to be cracked before the year ends as well.