Chelsea owner Todd Boehly ploughs near £40m into cricket franchise
- Boehly founder of BlueCo, Chelsea's ownership group
- The Hundred franchise Trent Rockets sells 49% stake to group Cain International
- Chelsea co-owner has stakes in several American sports teams
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has agreed a deal to invest close to £40m in Trent Rockets, one of eight cricket teams involved in The Hundred.
Founded in 2019, Trent Rockets compete in the latest short-form game introduced to English cricket and marks Boehly's expansion into UK sport beyond football.
First reported by the Telegraph and then corroborated elsewhere, the deal sees Boehly purchase a 49% stake in Trent Rockets with businessman Jonathan Goldstein, also part of Chelsea's BlueCo ownership group. Nottinghamshire CCC will retain the controlling 51% stake.
The buy-in for just under £40m values Trent Rockets at £79m. Boehly and Goldstein had previously been interested in taking a stake in London Spirit, missing out to an American consortium.
Birmingham City co-owner Tom Brady's Knighthead Capital group has already bought a 49% in Birmingham Phoenix as the NFL legend extends his grip on sport in the West Midlands.
Boehly, serving as Chelsea chairman since 2022, is a billionaire who made his fortune in investment and finance. His sporting portfolio began with a 20% stake in the LA Dodgers, who won baseball's World Series in 2020 and 2024, and grew to include stakes in the LA Lakers and LA Sparks.
A year after the Chelsea takeover, French football club Strasbourg joined the BlueCo stable in a £65m deal to become a sister club and farm team for Chelsea.
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