Bollywood’s Shah Rukh Khan buys into Major League Cricket


Sam Carp

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  • Khan’s Knight Riders Group already owns IPL and CPL franchises
  • Investment described as “a huge validation” of ACE’s plans for US T20 league
  • Major League Cricket, which is due to launch in 2022, recently confirmed first franchise in Dallas

Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan has been named as an investor in Major League Cricket (MLC), the US-based Twenty20 competition due to launch in 2022. 

The Bollywood star is buying into the league through his Knight Riders Group, which has entered into a long-term strategic partnership with American Cricket Enterprises (ACE), the group that in May 2019 pledged US$1 billion to help USA Cricket develop the sport in the US.

The Knight Riders Group is already heavily invested in T20 cricket as the owner of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Caribbean Premier League’s (CPL) Trinbago Knight Riders. 

The partnership between ACE and the Knight Riders Group will include financial investment – the value of which was not disclosed – and significant expertise to help ACE develop and launch MLC. 

ACE is not selling individual MLC franchises, but is instead offering investors the opportunity to buy an ownership interest in the league before eventually adopting a team as their own.

“For several years now, we have been expanding the Knight Riders brand globally and closely watching the potential for T20 cricket in the USA,” said Khan. “We are convinced that Major League Cricket has all the pieces in place to execute on its plans and we look forward to making our partnership an enormous success in the coming years.”

“We have had a keen interest in the developments in the United States and our expansion into the U.S. is consistent with our long-term strategy,” added Venky Mysore, chief executive of the Knight Riders Group. “We look forward to the new challenge of building cricket in the world’s most sophisticated sports and media market and we believe that we can bring a huge amount of expertise to help make Major League Cricket realise the potential that it undoubtedly has.”

Initially slated to launch in 2021, MLC is now likely to begin in 2022 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The league is expected to include an initial six franchises, one of which will be based in Dallas, where MLC recently received approval to redevelop AirHogs Stadium, a minor league baseball venue.

It has not been confirmed where the other five teams will play, but USA Cricket chief executive Iain Higgins told SportsPro in November that New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco and Los Angeles are among the US cities where cricket is most popular.

ACE’s Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan added in a joint statement: “By adding the Knight Riders Group to our family of world-class and diverse investors, this investment into the future of Major League Cricket is a huge validation of our vision for the new league, and we are particularly excited to have such an iconic cricketing brand onboard with us.

“The announcement today is a significant step forward in showing the potential of the American market, and we are delighted to have the backing and expertise of the Knight Riders Group to help us achieve this vision.”