New Zealand Cricket opts out of agreement to invest in MLC

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has opted out of its decision to invest in Major League Cricket (MLC) in 2027. NZC had announced a partnership with US-based True North Sports (TNS) Ventures, owned by MLC co-founders Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan.

The board had planned to operate one of the two new teams ahead of the 2027 season. According to the agreement, NZC was to provide high-performance and operational support to the venture.

"Firstly, I want to say that I admire the endeavor and aspiration behind the partnership with TNS. There's plenty of potential in the American market, however following further evaluation of the opportunity, we don't think the timing is right for us to be taking this on,” NZC CEO Geoff Allott said in a statement.

NZC has now decided to focus resources on opportunities in New Zealand before expanding overseas. The launch of the NZ20, the men's and women's T20 league to replace the existing Super Smash, has also been pushed back to December 2027 instead of the original plan of January 2027.

"Our immediate priority is ensuring we continue to invest in strengthening cricket in New Zealand and refining the best possible high-performance environment for our players and teams. I want to thank TNS and MLC co-founders Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan for allowing us to explore the opportunity and their support in coming to this mutual agreement. We wish them all the best for the future of MLC and have pledged to keep the lines of communication open," he said.