First Hundred auction to span two days in March

The Hundred’s inaugural player auction will be held in London on 11 and 12 March.

For the first five editions of the competition, players were allocated to teams via a draft system with a set of salary tiers.

But following substantial private investment in The Hundred, players not already signed or retained will now have their team and pay set by an auction.

The shift to a system similar to the one used in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been driven by new investors in the eight city-based franchises.

Auctions are a feature of a number of T20 franchise leagues, with the IPL holding one since its inception in 2008, but this will be the first major instance in UK sporting history.

Four of The Hundred’s sides are now part-owned by groups that also control franchises in the IPL, which is reflected in the new team names of MI London, Sunrisers Leeds and Manchester Super Giants. The fourth, Southern Brave – backed by Delhi Capitals – have retained their original name.

The women’s auction will take place on 11 March with the men’s auction 24 hours later.

Squads will be made up of between 16 to 18 players, while there is a salary cap limit along with a salary collar, a minimum amount teams must spend.

The salary pot in the men’s competition for 2026 has risen by 45% to £2.05m per side, and the fund for women’s teams has increased by 100% to £880,000.

The minimum salary for a female player has also risen by 50% to £15,000, while the number of overseas players permitted in both competitions increases from three to four.

Franchises were permitted to sign or retain up to four players each prior to the auction.

Fixtures for the 2026 edition of The Hundred have also been announced.

The opening men’s and women’s double-header will take place on 21 July at The Oval between MI London v Sunrisers Leeds, two franchises with IPL ownership links.

A total of 64 matches take place in the group stage, split equally between the men’s and women’s competitions.

The final round of group fixtures will be played on 12 August, with the Eliminator two days later and the final on Sunday, 16 August.

Both the Eliminator and final will have reserve days in place in the event of bad weather.

Every game will be live on BBC Sounds, with highlights on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website, plus 16 matches will also be available to watch live on BBC television.