Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Hampshire has become the first English county cricket club to be owned by an overseas investor, after being sold to the Indian conglomerate GMR Group. The 161-year-old club said GMR had acquired a majority stake and will complete a full acquisition over the next two years. The purchase will help Hampshire with its debts of £60 million, and bolt it to an influential investor in world cricket. GMR Group has run the Delhi Capitals Indian Premier League team since its launch in 2008 and it owns stakes it owns stakes in teams in South Africa, Dubai and the US. But those waiting for a wholesale revamp of county cricket with foreign cash may be disappointed. Hampshire is one of only three counties (alongside Durham and Northamptonshire) that operate as private companies. The others remain largely member-run and reliant on central funding from the English Cricket Board.
