Hollywood actors, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny have shown interest in buying a stake in Welsh Fire, one of the teams of the Hundred tournament. This is not the first time both actors have made offers in the sports teams representing Wales. A couple of years ago the actors acquired the co-ownership of the Wrexham football club through their company RR McReynolds. Since their takeover, the football club has seen many ups. Glamorgan County, which is represented by the Welsh Fire in the Hundred, would hope for a similar situation to unfold for them.
Earlier, the England Cricket Board (ECB) decided to secure private investments for its brainchild, the Hundred. While the ECB officials claimed that an immense amount of interest from investors across the world has been seen, Welsh Fire is likely to be the cheapest of the lot in terms of valuation. The club is of the view that this low valuation makes them a better place to invest, with Cardiff, the city of Glamorgan and Welsh Fire’s home ground, being one of the fastest developing cities.
“We just see the great opportunity here to be part of a nation, not only being a great value,” Dan Cherry, the Glamorgan County Club’s CEO said.
“You’d be representing Wales: Cardiff is a fast-growing city with major events happening here all the time at Principality Stadium, the Castle, and Cardiff City Stadium. It’s a great place to invest, and we believe we’ve got something different to all of the other venues.
Despite that, the county plans to hold the majority stake (51%) as well as control the team. The CEO also said that they are on the outlook for a ‘right option’ who would not have the issue with these demands.
“We want to make the right decision for the club and the game: we want to find the right partner, the right investor that’s going to improve what we do and support us along the journey – not take over,” Cherry said.
“We are keen to build a partnership where people can add value to us as a club… whether it be on the cricket side, around players and coaches and sharing academies, or more on the commercial side. We’re looking for a true partner that can add value – not looking to lose control and sell our soul, as some people would have it.”
Mentioning that the Chief Executive said that the offer is still in the preliminary stages and no significant step towards it has been taken yet.
“It is a feasible option. Contact’s been made. There’s not been anything substantial come back yet, but we’re in the process and I know that they’ll certainly be included in any process that we’ve got going forward.” Cherry was quoted as saying as per ESPN Cricinfo.
He further said that all of the offers that have been or will be made to them would be evaluated thoroughly to find the best bid.
“All bids and offers that are going to come in are going to be interesting to us, and we’re going to have to evaluate what the best bid is for us. There’s obvious interest in what Ryan Reynolds and the guys have done at Wrexham, which has been fantastic for football in North Wales. That doesn’t necessarily mean to say that it’ll be the right option for us, but if they’re interested in talking to us, obviously it’s an exciting proposition.”
As per reports, the county had spoken to the owners of the Pakistan Super League franchise, Multan Sultans as well, among others. Welsh Fire is one of the underperforming teams in the Hundred. The team has won only nine games out of the 32 they have played in the four seasons so far.
