Google’s Sundar Pichai joins tech CEOs in bids for London cricket team

Alphabet Inc. chief executive officer Sundar Pichai is joining Silicon Valley executives bidding for a London-based cricket team, according to people familiar with the matter. The consortium is putting in a bid of more than £80 million ($97 million) for either the Oval Invincibles or London Spirit. The teams play in The Hundred, a short-form tournament in England and Wales that’s pulling in younger fans and more families.

The group is being led by Palo Alto Networks Inc. CEO Nikesh Arora and Indian media tycoon Satyan Gajwani, vice chairman of Times Internet Ltd., the digital arm of Indian media conglomerate Times Group. The consortium also includes Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella, Adobe Inc. chief Shantanu Narayen, and Egon Durban, co-CEO of Silver Lake Management LLC, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is not public. Representatives for the consortium declined to comment.

Pichai is an avid fan of cricket, a sport that started in England but where it’s losing out to big money in India. With lucrative contracts drawing some of the world’s best players, the Indian Premier League has attracted large TV audiences and big sponsors.

Indians in tech have already been key in boosting support for the sport in the US, where Nadella and Narayen have invested in Major League Cricket.

In an effort to boost the sport’s finances domestically, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) opened a process in September to secure private investment into the eight teams of The Hundred. The auction is being managed by Raine Group, the investment bank that has previously advised on the sale of Manchester United and Chelsea FC.

The Hundred sees each side face 100 balls, creating a shorter game designed to attract new audiences with simpler rules. Since its launch in 2021, more than 2 million people have attended the city-based competition that spans eight venues in England and Wales.While the ECB is looking to sell the 49% stake it owns in each of the teams — with the option of a full takeover — it is the two London teams that have drawn the most interest from bidders, the people said. London Spirit is attractive to potential investors because the team plays at Lord’s, a ground widely referred to as the “home of cricket.”

The men’s and women’s Hundred competitions generate revenue of around £60 million a year for the ECB from broadcast, ticket sales and sponsorships, according to its website.