The Hundred’s makeover brings new owners and rebrands but crowds and attention lag in sixth edition
In the final days of July a viral clip involving a Saltburn CC fielder accused of clicking his fingers drew worldwide headlines, a moment that had nothing to do with the Hundred as the 100-ball competition entered its sixth edition and prepared to finish this weekend. The England and Wales Cricket Board found that brief burst of attention unrelated to the tournament it now runs.
The sale of stakes in all eight teams has brought in Indian Premier League owners, tech bros, Birmingham Phoenix investor Jude Bellingham and substantial paydays for the players, prompting a wave of rebranding across franchises. Teams have adopted new names including MI London, Sunrisers Leeds and Manchester Super Giants, while some outfits resisted wholesale change: Trent Rockets remained largely unaffected by investor Cain. Sunrisers drew early criticism after sharing a clip of their men’s side singing a new team song read off sheets of paper—an attempt at Leeds United’s Marching On Together that was deleted after ridicule.
On the field Trent Rockets have been the competition’s most consistent performers, topping both tables to reach Sunday’s finals at Lord’s, with Sophia Dunkley and Ben Duckett among the runs. Mick Newell, director of cricket for the Rockets and Nottinghamshire, pointed to continuity with the county as a factor: “It definitely was a conscious effort to put people in around the team who know the area, know the club and would make players feel comfortable very quickly,” says Newell. “Even with private investment we’re running it in a pretty similar way to the way we were doing it before.” Peter Moores is the men’s head coach of Notts and the Rockets, while Chris Read runs the women’s side in the Hundred.
Georgia Adams, who moved to Trent Rockets after four seasons with Southern Brave, described her personal experience of the teams’ reset after an auction following the introduction of private investment. She reached three Hundred finals with the Brave and captained the side but was not bid for when franchises rebooted; Brave, now associated with the IPL side Delhi Capitals, did not bid for her. “It’s a team that I cared so deeply about,” says Adams. “My initial thoughts were that I probably was a bit pissed off, if I’m honest. A bit of anger but also a bit of disappointment that a franchise that I felt like I did my utmost for didn’t even bid for me.”
Adams praised the connection she has found between the Rockets and fans at Trent Bridge but expressed concern about the effect of rebranding elsewhere on attendances: “Looking at the competition, it’s been quite sad,” she said, adding that some stadia have felt emptier than in previous seasons. The ECB reported that the number of tickets sold and issued for this year’s tournament was 550,000, 30,000 short of last year’s total, and noted an 18% decline in the average attendance for men’s games at Headingley for Sunrisers compared with 2025 figures.
There were attendance positives in Cardiff, where Welsh Fire recorded their best-ever day of attendance when MI London visited and drew a crowd of 11,796. The governing body has attributed the overall drop in crowds to operational changes, saying responsibility for ticket sales moved to individual teams, and has pointed out that the competition’s biggest seasons — 2023 and 2025 — followed major Test series, the Ashes and a visit by India respectively. Broadcast figures improved, with at least a 7.5% rise in the average audience on Sky Sports and the BBC.
Broadcasters also highlighted specific social moments from this year’s coverage; Sky cited Ravi Shastri introducing Jude Bellingham at a Phoenix game as its standout piece of social media content. Six seasons after the Hundred launched, organisers and investors continue to describe the competition as transitional while they complete rebrands, stadium links and commercial structures.
The Hundred concludes this weekend with Sunday’s finals at Lord’s, bringing the sixth edition to an end and leaving stakeholders to assess whether the changes implemented this season have produced the sustained crowd and profile gains owners sought.