England star Jude Bellingham has bought a one per cent stake in cricket franchise Birmingham Phoenix.
The deal, originally reported by The Cricketer, is understood to be around £800,000, with the 22-year-old purchasing a half per cent of Warwickshire’s 51 per cent stake and half a per cent of that owned by American group Knighthead Investment Management, who last year paid £40million for 49 per cent.
Knighthead also own Birmingham City, where Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham started his football career before moving to Borussia Dortmund as a 16-year-old in 2020 and then onto Spain three years later.
Bellingham was a keen cricketer as a youngster and when asked in an interview this year which player from another sport he would like to swap places with for a day, went for England captain Ben Stokes.
Bellingham used to play at Hagley Cricket Club in Worcestershire and despite being only 11 years old, stood out among his peers.
in 2024, club chairman Mark Baker told Daily Mail Sport: ‘His dad brought him along and he had a couple of years playing in our youth sides.
Jude Bellingham is a Real Madrid superstar but began his career in Birmingham
England opener Ben Duckett was one of Phoenix’s big-name players last summer
‘You could tell he was a natural-born cricketer from a really early age.
‘He was a very good player – especially because he didn’t have a lot of time for cricket because of his football commitments.
‘I remember he took a fantastic catch in a youth game. Most people wouldn’t have been able to get near it – but he did.
‘He had incredible coordination, it was just raw natural ability.
‘If he had focused on cricket, he could have gone far in the game. He’s just a special sporting talent.’
It opens the possibility of Bellingham and legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady, who is a minority investor and board adviser to Knighthead, attending matches at Edgbaston in the future.
Confirmation of Bellingham’s near six-figure buy-in to a team featuring England duo Jacob Bethell and Rehan Ahmed is expected to be confirmed on Wednesday.
