Northern Superchargers will take the field as Sunrisers Leeds next summer, their new identity confirmed after the Sun Group – the Chennai-based media giant – completed a £100 million buy-out earlier this year. Companies House filings, lodged last week, quietly drew a line under the Superchargers name and brought the Leeds outfit in line with the owner’s other teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad (IPL) and Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SA20).
The move is unlikely to be the last rebrand in the Hundred. Private ownership of all eight clubs has opened the door for Manchester Originals to morph into Manchester Super Giants under the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, while Oval Invincibles are expected to become MI London once Reliance Industries signs off its minority stake.
For Yorkshire, who sold their 51 per cent share as part of the deal, the cash injection has obvious appeal. “The deal puts the club in a strong financial position, which has been far from the case for many years here, and we can start looking towards a very bright future,” Yorkshire chief executive Sanjay Patel said when the sale was announced. The county’s sizeable debts are already being chipped away.
On the field, fortunes were mixed in 2025. The Superchargers women lifted the trophy after out-playing Southern Brave at Lord’s, but the men fell at the eliminator stage. Both squads remain intact for now, yet the coaching set-up is in flux. Andrew Flintoff has stepped aside and Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Daniel Vettori has been linked with the vacancy. Asked about the prospect on Sky Sports last month, Vettori admitted, “We’ll see what happens, but the Hundred is a competition I’ve followed closely and I’d love to be involved.”
Attention is also turning to next spring’s inaugural player auction, which replaces the original draft system. Rob Calder, the Hundred’s commercial director, said in a recent briefing, “An auction, extra overseas slot and higher salary bands should help us attract and retain genuine global stars.”
The 2026 tournament is pencilled in for 21 July to 16 August – a compact window that the ECB hopes will minimise clashes with other leagues and give Sunrisers Leeds, and any other freshly branded sides, a clear run at building their new identities.
