Northern Superchargers renamed as Sunrisers Leeds ahead of Hundred 2026
04 Nov 2025

The Sun Group, owners of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and SA20 side Sunrisers Eastern Cape, have rebranded their Hundred franchise.

Northern Superchargers will now be called Sunrisers Leeds for the 2026 season of The Hundred tournament.

This comes after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) started selling franchises for The Hundred.

Here are further details.

SRH's journey in The Hundred
Franchise acquisition

The Sun Group was one of three bidders for a The Hundred franchise, which it eventually won.

The ECB sold a 49% stake in the deal. However, the ECB had left the door open for full acquisition.

After discussions with the Yorkshire County Cricket Club, the Sun Group bought a 100% stake in the Northern Superchargers for ₹1,092 crore and rebranded them as Sunrisers Leeds.

IPL team owners enter The Hundred market
Control

Earlier this year, the ECB announced that four IPL team owners have been appointed as "strategic partners" for teams in The Hundred.

The list includes the GMR Group, Sun TV Network Limited, RPSG Group, and Reliance Group.

Notably, the owners were supposed to get full operational control by October 1 this year.

The ECB said these strategic partnerships will unlock "hundreds of millions of pounds for game-wide growth."

IPL-like auction system for The Hundred
Auction

As reported earlier, The Hundred is set to make a major change by introducing a player auction system from the 2026 season.

This move is similar to the long-standing tradition of team formation in the IPL.

The Hundred's Board approved the decision as part of a 'reset' process for its first season with teams partially or fully owned by private investors.