Jude Bellingham, an English football player, has purchased a minority stake in the Hundred franchise Birmingham Phoenix. The deal is estimated to cost almost 1 million pounds and will turn Bellingham into a 1.2% stakeholder of the franchise in Edgbaston. The investment should be confirmed by Warwickshire on Wednesday.
Bellingham was raised in Birmingham and was a pupil of the Priory School in Edgbaston district. He was a teenager who played junior cricket in the Hagley Cricket Club in Worcestershire.
Ownership Structure of the Franchise
Birmingham Phoenix was among eight of the Hundred franchises that were put on sale last year. The franchise was sold to an American investment group called Knighthead Capital Management. They also own Bellingham’s former football club, Birmingham City. They bought a 49% stake in the franchise at the price of £40 million. The rest was retained by Warwickshire, which was 51%.
Since then, Bellingham has acquired 0.6 per cent of both parties (Warwickshire and Knighthead) and now possesses 1.2 per cent altogether. Warwickshire possesses 50.4 per cent of the franchise, which gives them the majority, but deprives Knighthead to 48.4%. The share of Bellingham is estimated to be around 1 million pounds.
In their recent annual report, Warwickshire reported that they valued their 51% stake in the franchise at £48 million. The deal with Bellingham came to light in January 2026, and the annual report mentioned him as only an investor at the time.
Why Bellingham’s Deal Was Allowed?
Last year, the ECB declared that new investors in the Hundred franchises have a five-year lock-in period. But this investment by Bellingham was allowed since both Warwickshire and Knighthead had signaled his interest when the initial transaction was made in early 2025. This is in parallel with a similar set-up where the co-owners of Seattle Orcas acquired a minority stake in Southern Brave in January.
Knighthead co-founder, Tom Wagner, who was proposed to the Phoenix board as a director, has already outlined broader plans for Birmingham, which involve a new 62,000-seat football stadium and a larger Sports Quarter development. NFL legend Tom Brady has a small stake in Knighthead but will not be a director of the Phoenix.
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What This Means for Birmingham Phoenix
Birmingham Phoenix is one of the three Hundred franchises. They have not won either the men’s or women’s competition yet. Neither the men’s nor the women’s team made it to the play-offs last year.
The 2026 season will feature the men captained by young England batter Jacob Bethell, with the women led by Australian allrounder Ellyse Perry. This participation provides Bellingham with a lot of publicity for a franchise which is yet to prove itself as a title contender.
Bellingham then signed with the academy of Birmingham City as an under-8 and debuted in the first team at the age of 16. He later joined Borussia Dortmund and was signed by Real Madrid at an estimated fee of about 88 million in 2023.
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