The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today launches the sixth season of The Hundred, following its most successful year yet for ticket sales, with a new campaign designed to bring more people than ever to the tournament; in the stadium and on TV.
The campaign positions The Hundred as unmissable viewing for the whole family, with every match framed as an episode in “the most dramatic show on TV.”
Season Six launches into one of the most competitive sporting summers The Hundred has faced, alongside major international cricket and football. With awareness established, attendances growing and and private investment secured, the campaign builds on that momentum by bringing the drama and rivalry of every fixture to life for audiences at home, growing television audiences across BBC and Sky Sports, alongside continued strong attendance, with a particular focus on sporty families and women interested in sport.
The campaign is built around the behaviours that make people choose live television: shared viewing, unfolding rivalries, fear of missing out and the excitement of watching events happen in real time.
It extends The Hundred’s long-term positioning as an entertainment brand that is cricket – bringing the storytelling language of television to the tension, talking points and shareable moments that are already built into every fixture.
The hero execution is a 30″ TVC (with 15” and 6″ cut-downs), shot in the style of a reality TV trailer. Players visit “The Hundred Diary Room” to deliver knowing confessional-style soundbites, echoing the conventions of hit reality shows. Each Diary Room moment builds the reality TV language further, teeing up the next burst of action. The film closes on fireworks and explosive match highlights, alongside The Hundred; enduring brand platform: Every. Ball. Counts.
The campaign represents the latest evolution of The Hundred’s long-term brand strategy. Each season has adapted its creative expression to support a different stage of the tournament’s growth, while remaining anchored in the belief that The Hundred should behave like a leading entertainment brand rather than simply be marketed like a sports tournament.
“This is about meeting people where they already are – be it at home, or at the game – and bringing them even closer to the action. We’ve built an incredible tournament with exceptional entertainment, brilliant athletes and genuine rivalries; this campaign is about making sure people know that watching from home is just as much a part of The Hundred experience as being there in person,” said Cordelia Brown, Marketing Director, ECB.
“After five years of building The Hundred into one of Britain’s most exciting new sports properties, the role of marketing has evolved. Rather than only persuading people to come to the ground, we needed to persuade them to choose The Hundred, every single day of the tournament. So we borrowed the storytelling codes of the television shows that already win that battle for attention. Cricket already has the drama. This campaign simply reframes it in a language new audiences instinctively understand,” said Matt Rhodes, Chief Strategy Officer, ELVIS
The work features leading men’s and women’s cricketing talent from across The Hundred’s eight teams, with voiceover from reality TV favourite Dani Dyer.
