SURJ Sports Investment, the investment arm of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), has signalled interest in investing in a new T20 cricket league.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, SURJ has been in conversations with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) over a $500m investment in creating a new T20 league.
The proposed new league will reportedly consist of eight teams each year competing in matches across four different locations.
The Sydney Morning Herald also noted that the league was first proposed by Neil Maxwell, the former Fijian cricket player who played for Victoria, New South Wales and Canterbury across the 1990s.
Leveraging his commercial experience in cricket as the ex-CEO of Indian Premier League (IPL) side Kings XI Punjab, Maxwell has been working with the ACA to develop new revenue streams for Australian cricket teams to grow its global appeal.
The proposed T20 league would fall under this initiative, aiming for the league to mirror golf and tennis’ four Grand Slam major events per year.
The report from the Sydney Morning Herald revealed that the proposed league would be played outside of busy periods during the cricket calendar in a bid to increase its visibility, while also causing no disruption to existing T20 leagues, the IPL and other leagues.
Eight new franchise teams would be formed as part of the new league, with the final potentially being held in Saudi Arabia, which the largest investor SURJ will almost certainly be pushing for.
SURJ has been active in pursuing sports investment opportunities since being formed by the PIF last summer. The investment arm has secured major investments in MMA with the Professional Fighters League and more recently, a stake in global sports streaming platform DAZN.
