European T20 Premier League
European Twenty20 cricket league
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The European T20 Premier League (ETPL) is a franchise Twenty20 cricket league in Europe. It comprises six franchise teams, representing major cities in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Netherlands, and Scotland.[1][2][3] The ICC-sanctioned league was co-founded by Indian actor and sports entrepreneur Abhishek Bachchan and three other Indian investors, in a strategic partnership with Cricket Scotland, Cricket Ireland, and Royal Dutch Cricket Association.[4]
| |
| Countries | |
|---|---|
| Format | T20 cricket |
| First edition | 2026 |
| Next edition | 2027 |
| Tournament format | Round-robin league and playoffs |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Website | etplofficial |
History
Euro T20 Slam
In March 2019, Cricket Scotland, Cricket Ireland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association officially announced a sanctioned cross-border European Twenty20 professional franchise tournament, the Euro T20 Slam,[5] originally for six teams. The initial player draft was held. The organiser, which was also responsible for the Canadian Global T20 tournament, announced a number of postponements as a combination of organisational issues and the COVID-19 pandemic effectively rendered the tournament abandoned.
European T20 Premier League
In January 2025, it was confirmed that a broadly similar venture[6] with the same boards and six initial teams, had received the International Cricket Council's sanction to begin play in July 2025, effectively rebranding the T20 Slam as European T20 Premier League.[7][8][6] The event avoids most of the southern hemisphere and Caribbean franchise tournaments, including the Indian Premier League. Bollywood entertainer Abhishek Bachchan was announced as part owner of the league, at the same time as its sanctioning.[9] In June 2025, the European T20 Premier League was postponed from its planned July–August 2025, The tournament had originally been scheduled to take place from 15 July to 3 August 2025, but the franchise ownership process was not completed in time. Potential investors were reportedly focused on opportunities to acquire stakes in teams in The Hundred.[1] In August 2025, the ETPL appointed Oakvale Capital as its exclusive investment banker to raise capital for the competition. The league remained backed by Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association, with Abhishek Bachchan among its investors.
In January 2026 ETPL announced its first three franchise ownership groups. Former Australia captain Steve Waugh became part of the ownership group behind the Amsterdam franchise[4] while former New Zealand internationals Nathan McCullum and Kyle Mills were involved with the Edinburgh franchise[10] Glenn Maxwell was also announced as a co-owner of the Belfast franchise[11] Later, Chris Gayle joined the Glasgow franchise[12] while Faf du Plessis, Jonty Rhodes and Heinrich Klaasen became co-owners of Rotterdam Dockers.[13][14] In May 2026, Rahul Dravid was announced as owner of the Dublin Guardians[15], completing the league's six-team structure.
The inaugural season will be played from 26 August to 20 September 2026.[16][17][18]
Format
The ETPL is played in a double round-robin format, where each team faces the other twice during the league stage. The top three teams at the end of the group stage qualify for the playoffs, with the first placed team proceeding directly to the final while the second and third placed teams contest a qualifier semi-final.
In the group stage, teams are awarded two points for a win, one point for a no-result, and zero points for a loss. If a match ends in a tie, a super over is used to decide the winner. If the Super over is tied, up to two subsequent super overs may be played.
Teams in the league stage are ranked based on:
- Higher number of points
- If equal, best net run rate
- If equal, most wickets taken per fair balls bowled in complete matches
- If still equal, by drawing of lots
In the playoffs, if a super over cannot be played or two subsequent super overs also ends in a tie, the team that finished higher in the league stage is declared the winner.
Teams
Current
In January 2025, the six represented cities were announced.[19] On 21 January, the ETPL announced the first three franchise owners, Amsterdam Flames, Edinburgh Castle Rockers, and Belfast Wolves.[20][21][22] On 20 April, Glasgow Mugafians was announced as one of the franchises.[23] On 28 April, the franchise rebranded to Glasgow Cosmic.[24] On 30 April, Jonty Rhodes, Faf du Plessis, and Heinrich Klaasen were announced as the owners of Rotterdam Dockers.[25][26] On 11 May, the final team was announced as the Dublin Guardians, with Rahul Dravid led consortium as their owners.[27]
| Team | City | Debut | Captain | Head coach | Owner(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam Flames |  Amsterdam |
2026 | Scott Edwards | Ryan Cook | Steve Waugh Jamie Dwyer Tim Thomas | ||||
| Belfast Wolves |  Belfast |
Glenn Maxwell | Kevin O'Brien | Rohan Lund Glenn Maxwell | |||||
| Dublin Guardians |  Dublin |
Ravichandran Ashwin | Rahul Dravid | Rahul Dravid | |||||
| Edinburgh Castle Rockers |  Edinburgh |
Mitchell Santner | James Foster | Nathan McCullum Kyle Mills | |||||
| Glasgow Cosmic | Glasgow |
George Munsey | Matthew Hayden | Matthew Hayden Tansha Batra Mugafi Group | |||||
| Rotterdam Dockers | Rotterdam |
Faf du Plessis | Adrian Birrell | Jonty Rhodes Faf du Plessis Heinrich Klaasen John Abraham | |||||
Seasons and results
| Season | Final | No. of teams | Player of the series | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Result | Runners-up | Venue | |||
| 2026 | Malahide Cricket Ground, Malahide |
6 | ||||
Team performances
- C: Champions
- RU: Runner-up
- SF: Team qualified for the semi-final of the competition
Broadcasting
The 2026 season of the European T20 Premier League will be broadcast live on the following channels.[28][29]
| Region(s)/countries | Television rights | Streaming rights |
|---|---|---|
| Indian subcontinent | Star Sports | JioHotstar |
| United Kingdom | TNT Sports | HBO Max |
| Ireland | ||
| Australia | Foxtel | Kayo Sports |
| Caribbean | Rush Sports | Rush Live & Louder |
| United States | Willow | Cricbuzz |
| Canada | ||
| Middle East and North Africa | N/a | |
| Southeast Asia | N/a | |
| South Africa | N/a | Olympic Channel |
| New Zealand | N/a | |
| Netherlands | N/a |