Warwickshire are set to announce that England footballer Jude Bellingham has bought a minority stake in Hundred franchise Birmingham Phoenix.
Knighthead Capital, the American investment fund who own Birmingham City FC, bought a 49% stake in the franchise last year to become co-owners along with host county Warwickshire. The Cricketer reported on Tuesday that Bellingham, the Real Madrid midfielder who grew up in Birmingham, has since purchased a small stake from both parties.
Warwickshire revealed in their recent annual report that a transaction worth 1.2% of the shares in Birmingham Phoenix had been sold in January 2026 to “an investor”, of which 0.6% was held by the club. As a result of Bellingham’s investment, the club now holds 50.4% of the shares in the franchise, while Knighthead holds 48.4%.
Bellingham’s stake in the franchise is estimated to be worth around £1 million. Warwickshire said in their annual report that the “fair value” attributed to the club’s 51% interest in the franchise was £48 million, a valuation based on the cost of Knighthead’s initial purchase and an “appropriate control premium applied to the majority holding”.
The ECB said last year when stakes in the eight franchises were sold that there was a “five-year lock-in period” for new investors but Bellingham’s investment has been permitted as his interest was flagged by both Warwickshire and Knighthead at the time of the initial transaction early last year. A similar arrangement saw Seattle Orcas‘ co-owners buy a minority stake in Southern Brave in January.
Bellingham came through the academy at Birmingham City, first joining the club’s Under-8s, and became their youngest first-team player as a 16-year-old. He joined Borussia Dortmund for a reported £22.75 million after one full season of first-team football and subsequently joined Real Madrid for around £88 million in 2023.
Bellingham was born in Stourbridge and attended the Priory School in the Edgbaston area. He played junior cricket for Hagley Cricket Club as a teenager and is known to be a cricket fan, saying in an interview earlier this year that if he could swap jobs for a day with any athlete from another sport, he would choose England Test captain Ben Stokes.
The Phoenix are one of three franchises who are yet to win either the men’s or women’s Hundred, and neither team reached the play-offs last year. Their men’s team will be captained by young England batter Jacob Bethell this year, and their women’s team by Australian allrounder Ellyse Perry.
Warwickshire declined to comment but are expected to confirm Bellingham’s investment on Wednesday.
Knighthead’s investment in the Phoenix formed part of wider plans to create a ‘Sports Quarter’ in Birmingham, which would include a new 62,000-seat football stadium. Tom Wagner, Knighthead’s co-founder, has already successfully lobbied for government funding for new transport links and said last year that he saw the Hundred as an opportunity to underline his commitment to the city.
Wagner has been appointed to the Phoenix board as a director along with colleagues Andrew Shannahan and Kyle Kneisly, both of whom are on Birmingham City FC’s board. The legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady has a small interest in Knighthead but will not serve as a director.
Warwickshire’s controlling interest in the franchise is reflected in the fact that they have four out of seven board seats, with Mark McCafferty (chair), Stuart Cain (chief executive), Craig Flindall (strategy director) and Adam Lowe (commercial director) all acting as Phoenix directors.
