In what is one of the most historic move in all sports around the world, the IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals has offered a bid of £25million (INR 260 crore) to buy Yorkshire County.
A move so unprecedented in England’s County cricket, if this deal goes through, the Rajasthan Royals will take full control at the Yorkshire County and the Headingley stadium.
The Yorkshire County is a 160-year-old club and has been exclusively run by its members only. However, they are currently facing financial hardships and to ensure its survival, the County could agree to sell to the Rajasthan Royals. If it happens, Yorkshire would become the first county to be owned by a foreign franchise.
The club currently is in debt of £15m to former chairman Colin Graves. Last week, the Daily Mail reported that Yorkshire were considering selling Headingley to former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley to raise funds to pay off Colin Graves.
They had reportedly also approached for taking loans from other IPL franchises and a Saudi Arabian Prince, Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud to get them out of their current jam, which was worsened post the covid pandemic.
Rajasthan Royals seeking complete control of Yorkshire County and Headingley stadium
The Royals “would provide a convertible loan note to Yorkshire to service the Graves debt, which would be switched to equity at a future date.”
The Daily Mail said: “Yorkshire’s executive team are considering the offer, which will be put to the board later this month. They would then put the offer to the members, who would vote on whether to accept the offer. Rajasthan have plans to bring in their own executives to run the club.”
Why do Rajasthan Royals want to buy Yorkshire?
While Yorkshire has debt and financial crisis reasons to sell, what’s in it for the Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals?
This move would allow Rajasthan Royals, who currently have franchises in CPL (Barbados Royals) and SA20 (Paarl Royals), to own the Northern Superchargers franchise in The Hundred, which is the home team of Yorkshire and Headingley. And this would also give RR control over the Headingley stadium.
For the unversed, Rajasthan’s majority owner is Manoj Badale, a London-based businessman.
