da prosport bet： Manchester franchise hoping to challenge United and City as IPL investors arrive in “UK’s number one sporting city”
da betsul： Matt Roller14-Feb-2025Lancashire officials have played down the idea that Manchester Originals could be seen as a consolation prize by the RPSG Group, who are finalising a deal for 70% stake in the franchise after missing out on a minority share in London Spirit.Lancashire shortlisted four bidders with links to IPL franchises, though Reliance, the owners of Mumbai Indians, were removed when they won the auction for a stake in Oval Invincibles. The RPSG Group – who run Lucknow Super Giants – eventually saw off competition from Kolkata Knight Riders and Amit Jain, whose bid involved a cricketing partnership with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.The auction for Originals took place three days after the RPSG Group had missed out on London Spirit, the Lord’s-based franchise, in a three-hour bidding war with a Silicon Valley tech consortium. They were the final bidders remaining as Spirit’s valuation reached an eye-watering £295 million, and instead secured Originals at a valuation of £116m.Related
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Lancashire have stressed that the RPSG Group had been their preferred partner for a significant period of time, and RPSG Group chairman Sanjiv Goenka has insisted his commitment to “developing a deep bond” with the club, saying he sees “huge potential” in the partnership.”Lord’s is Lord’s, but Manchester is Manchester,” Shashwat Goenka, Sanjiv’s son and the group’s vice-chairman, said at a launch event at Emirates Old Trafford on Friday. “While we did bid aggressively for Lord’s, we stopped at a point and I’m extremely happy with Manchester. We’ve been delighted with our interactions with Lancashire and I’m very excited with this partnership.”James Sheridan, Originals’ chair, played down the significance of the failed bids in London. “It doesn’t concern us,” he said. “We’ve had some amazing conversations… I was actually on the phone to one of Shashwat’s colleagues the minute after the auction finished in London. We’re not concerned. We’ve got 100 percent, total confidence that RPSG is in the right place.”ESPNcricinfo revealed last year that officials from the RPSG Group had visited Manchester during the Hundred, while Lancashire also sent a delegation to Kolkata – where RPSG is based – last year. “The team from Lucknow have just been exemplary from a partnership approach, right from day one,” Sheridan said. “We have got a fantastic partner that we can build something very special with.”Lancashire opted to sell part of their stake in Originals but will retain 30% and plan to include a reserved matters provision – effectively a set of veto rights – while drawing up contracts over the next six weeks. They will use their windfall of more than £30 million to pay down their debt and invest in infrastructure projects, including the development of a second home venue in Farington, near Preston.Daniel Gidney, Lancashire’s chief executive, believes that new investment will eventually help Originals compete with Manchester’s two Premier League football clubs. “We’ve talked about Manchester being probably the UK’s number one sporting city… We want the Manchester franchise in the Hundred to become the third-biggest sports team in Manchester and challenge those two [United and City].Sheridan and Gidney speak to the press•Lancashire CCC
“That is the scale and level of the ambition of both of us as partners… This is something that is incredibly exciting for us and that is why we wanted to partner with an IPL team and we always have done. You’ve got a 1.4 billion population of people who adore cricket: why wouldn’t we want to inject a bit of that energy and passion into Manchester and Lancashire?”The two parties did not confirm as much but it is widely expected that the franchise will be renamed Manchester Super Giants from 2026, following the lead of the Lucknow and Durban teams in the IPL and SA20 respectively. The RPSG Group also own Mohun Bagan, the Kolkata-based football club who play in the Indian Super League.LSG reached the play-offs in their first two IPL seasons before missing out on net run-rate last year, and spent a record INR 27 crore (£2.54m approx.) on Rishabh Pant at November’s auction. The arrival of four IPL owners in the Hundred has led to speculation that Indian men’s players could feature in future, but that appears unlikely in the short term.”If you could get Rishabh Pant playing in the Hundred, you’d have a lot more eyeballs on what’s going on,” Sheridan said. “But we all know that the BCCI doesn’t allow that to happen at the moment… I don’t think that is likely to change anytime soon.” Goenka added: “Where Indian players play and don’t play is the prerogative of the BCCI.”Phil Salt and Beth Mooney, who have both been retained for 2025, said that the partnership will benefit Originals. “There’s definitely a new level for this tournament to find,” Salt said. “At the inception of the IPL, their ambition was to bring the world’s best tournament that we’ve ever seen… We sit here today knowing full well that our ambition is to bring the world’s best cricket to Manchester.”Mooney, speaking from Vadodara shortly before playing for Gujarat Giants, added: “The IPL changed the landscape of men’s cricket, and we’re seeing that starting to happen with the WPL heading into its third season… The exciting part of the Hundred is that it’s only going to get bigger and better.”
