Change looks imminent for The Hundred following a bumper influx of overseas investment with altered team names and a switch to the T20 format all under consideration.
Stakes in six of the eight franchises have already been completed with deals for Trent Rockets and Oval Invincibles set to follow suit as over £500m pours into the game.
Each of the 18 first-class counties will receive a £400,000 down payment from Friday.
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Nikesh Arora, leader of the consortium that has invested in London Spirit, spoke to the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast earlier this year about how big The Hundred sales are for English cricket
The new team owners will officially take charge on October 1, with there then likely to be a radical overhaul ahead of the 2026 edition of the tournament.
Eventually, the 100-ball format – which is only played globally in this competition – could be replaced by the well-established T20 system.
That has skyrocketed since the advent of the Indian Premier League in 2007 and a number of IPL owners are now involved in The Hundred.
Lucknow Super Giants have aligned with Manchester Originals and Sunrisers Hyderabad with Northern Superchargers, while Invincibles are set to join Mumbai Indians’ MI stable.
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Ahead of the new season of The Hundred, watch a press conference with a twist as Nasser Hussain, Ebony Rainford-Brent and Dinesh Karthik are put on the spot by mini reporters!
Hundred MD: We want to keep core DNA but supercharge tournament
Vikram Banerjee, managing director of the Hundred, said: “It would be slightly odd to bring all these great people in and leave it as it is.
“There are things the tournament has done brilliantly that we want to hold on to, and the core DNA of the tournament will carry on, but we’ll look to supercharge it.
“You want to see innovation and growth in new things. Other people will have great ideas and I’m looking forward to seeing what they are.
“(Moving to T20) is one of the things that will be discussed. At the moment it’s the Hundred format and that will remain for now but let’s see where we get to in the long term.”
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Watch the 2025 edition of The Hundred live on Sky Sports from August 5-31, with London Spirit Women and Oval Invincibles Men the defending champions
ECB chief executive Richard Gould also made it clear that if a global Champions League gets off the ground, the governing body would be inclined to send the winner of the Hundred rather than a county from the Vitality Blast.
“There might be some pushback, but that’s a debate to be had,” said Gould.
“If there’s a Champions League format it would be a Hundred team going forward and of course we’d want to be involved at the earliest opportunity.”
Watch the 2025 edition of The Hundred live on Sky Sports from August 5-31.
