By Frank Dalleres
Copyright cityam
When Italy’s men secured their historic qualification for next year’s T20 World Cup earlier this summer, the cheers reached all the way to India.
Over in the subcontinent, a group backed by Bollywood royalty toasted the news as proof of their belief that European cricket is a largely untapped well of talent – and, more importantly, fandom in the sport.
Rules Global is betting on it, through a joint venture with Cricket Ireland to establish a pan-European white-ball franchise league set to launch next year.
The European T20 Premier League will begin with six teams – in Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Amsterdam and Rotterdam – but the group is convinced that is only the tip of an iceberg of potential for the game across the continent.
“We are looking at a sport which is growing exponentially. It’s the second largest sport in the world. Europe is an unexplored market, there is no premium league. That’s what we want to create,” co-founder Saurav Banerjee tells City AM.
Banerjee cites research stating cricket’s fanbase has grown from 1.5bn to 2.5bn in a year. “Every market that we go to, like Major League Cricket in America, it’s all grown. So the power ratio, which is revenues to fanbase, sooner rather than later it always catches up.
“Look at when Google acquired YouTube. Everybody thought $1.2bn was such a high price, but there was a huge supply constraint. People who wanted to express themselves could not, and YouTube gave them that lead, and now YouTube makes $1.2bn a month.”
Priyanka Kaul, another co-founder, adds: “There’s so much potential. Italy qualifying for the World Cup – we celebrated as much back home in India. Germany is doing great work, Spain is doing great work, so are the smaller members. Everybody has one or two really good players.”
Why Hundred sales can boost ETPL interest
Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan and experienced Indian cricket executive Dhiraj Malhotra are also part of the group, which is currently spending time in the UK and Ireland to identify stadiums for ETPL’s debut season, set to run from 26 August to 20 September 2026.
It’s a year later than hoped, with plans to launch this summer abandoned due to several potential franchise owners from the Indian Premier League focusing on completing stake purchases in The Hundred, and ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan.
Those potential buyers have resumed talks now, says Banerjee, while the group has engaged London-based Oakvale Capital to attract further ownership interest, which it hopes will come from Irish, Scottish and Dutch investors too.
Cricket’s global profile is set to be boosted by its return to the Olympics at LA 2028, while the near-£1bn total valuations achieved in The Hundred sale should only help to sell ETPL.
“What The Hundred has done is shown the world how big Europe is. If you had asked one of the big four, McKinsey say, ‘how big is the market in England?’ I don’t think they would have come up with the number that The Hundred has achieved,” he said.
“There are 34 other members who are also interested in cricket, who are from the same region, understand and play cricket in school and college. And there is a premier league which is coming up, run by people who have an understanding of the IPL and raising capital.
“I think it just helps me. I’m responsible for the fundraising process within the team, and it helps me to market this better. So obviously, The Hundred has expanded the market and created a buzz, which is going to help not only us, but the entire cricketing world.”
