“That’s probably a bit of work we need to do."
Richard Gould, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), has admitted the organisation has no evidence that fans drawn to The Hundred have gone on to attend other forms of cricket.
Since its launch in 2021, the ECB has promoted The Hundred as a way to attract a fresh, diverse audience.
After the inaugural edition, then-ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said:
“The Hundred is all about throwing cricket’s doors open and it’s already delivering.
“We need to grow cricket, reach more people, and that’s exactly what the Hundred does.”
A report published in October 2024 showed that 31% of tickets for The Hundred were bought by women, 23% were for juniors, and 41% of buyers attended in family groups.
However, on the day counties received their first payments from external investment into the eight franchises, Gould revealed no detailed work had been done to see if these fans stay involved in cricket outside the tournament.
He said: “That’s probably a bit of work we need to do.
“Just to check that when people do come in, where do they go? Because you might get some coming in to Test cricket [who] then go to the Hundred and Hundred into Test cricket.
“We haven’t done that work in any great detail.”
The lack of research is notable, as encouraging fans to cross between formats is a key ECB goal.
Gould said: “Fandom is really important for us, whether it’s England, Leicestershire or London Spirit. That’s the key.
“We’ve got a really dedicated core audience, which is relatively small compared to other sports.
“Then we’ve got lots of people that are very interested in cricket, but perhaps don’t come to it as often as we want.
“We know the interest is there, we just need to get people to come more often for all formats, rather than just that ‘I’ve been to the Test once a year’ type of thing.”
This year’s Hundred begins at Lord’s on August 5 and is expected to be the last before new owners push through major changes, including team names, kits and possibly the format length.
Vikram Banerjee, the tournament’s managing director, said:
“That’s the kind of conversation we’re starting to get into now.
“It would be slightly odd to bring all these great people in and then just leave it as it is.”
Deals to sell part or full stakes in six of the eight franchises were finalised this week, with the remaining two expected soon.
Total investment has been estimated at £520 million, with an initial payment of “just north of £400,000” released to every county.
Host counties can expect a minimum of £18 million, and non-hosts around £25 million.
The possibility of adding a ninth team has been discussed, but counties have been warned against spending their windfall on unnecessary stadium upgrades.
Gould added: “When giving guidance as to what a future expansion team needs to look like in terms of facilities, we’re not going to be setting huge capacities.
“What we don’t want is a load of empty plastic seats around the place. We’re not looking to see investment going into creating white elephants.”
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