Todd Boehly, co-chair of Chelsea Football Club, allegedly just got ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in bidding for a team in England’s The Hundred franchise league. Real estate firm Cain International, which was co-founded by Boehly and Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein, purchased a 49 percent stake of The Hundred side Trent Rockets.
As per a report, Trent Rockets was purchased by the Boehly group for a price in the vicinity of GBP 39 million (approximately Rs 420 crore). Another report from Cricbuzz cited that the franchise’s valuation was set really high at GBP 79 million. According to the report, Indian investor Amit Jain was in the running along with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
As per a report by ESPNcricinfo, KKR and Amit Jain were beaten by Cain International, which was earlier in the run for the acquisition of fellow Hundred side London Spirit.
KKR are owned by Red Chillies Entertainment, a conglomerate established by actor Shah Rukh Khan. Other field shareholdings include those of businessman Jay Mehta and actor Juhi Chawla.
Winning the bid would see KKR join its sibling sides: the KKR franchise, the Trinbago Knight Riders, LA Knight Riders, and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders.
Two franchises in The Hundred have been bought off by IPL owners. The Mumbai Indians’ owners, Reliance Industries, bought a 49 percent stake in Oval Invincibles, with a valuation of around GBP 60 million. The owners of the Lucknow Super Giants, RPSG Group, acquired a similar stake in Manchester Originals, which has a valuation of GBP 116 million.
Reports have quoted GMR Group, co-owners of the Delhi Capitals, probably taking over a stake in Southern Brave.
On the other hand, KKR will not be joining them, for now.
Cain International is going to be one of four owners non-IPL owning a stake in a Hundred team.
Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire counties are represented by Trent Rockets, based in Nottingham, whose men’s team won The Hundred tournament in 2022 and placed third the year before. Likewise, trios of T20 competitions regarding the women’s side finished third in 2022.
The Rockets featured several notable cricket stars such as Joe Root, Alex Hales and Rovman Powell in the 2024 season. Ashleigh Gardner and Nat Sciver-Brunt are among the other stars of the women’s team.
Boehly has further extended his empire into the world of sports with this investment. The American billionaire, 51, led a consortium called BlueCo that took over Chelsea Football Club in 2022 from Ukrainian businessman Roman Abramovich. They also took over the French club RC Strasbourg in Ligue 1.
Chelsea is currently fourth in the 2024-25 Premier League season, while Strasbourg is ninth in Ligue 1.
Boehly also co-owns Major League Baseball (MLB) team Los Angeles Dodgers, looking outside sports investment.
