Shah Rukh Khan's Knight Riders invests in USA's Major League Cricket

Knight Riders will join hands with American Cricket Enterprises to become a stakeholder in the development of the sport in the region

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's Knight Riders Group, on Tuesday, announced their foray into the untapped US cricket market, investing in the development of Major League Cricket with a multi-million dollar T20 tournament.

As per the deal, Knight Riders will join hands with American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) to become a stakeholder in the development of the sport in the region. "For several years now, we have been expanding the Knight Riders brand globally and closely watching the potential for T20 cricket in the USA," said Shah Rukh, the principal owner of the Knight Riders group, in a media statement.

"We are convinced that Major League Cricket has all the pieces in place to execute on its plans and we look forward to making our partnership an enormous success in the coming years," the statement said.

The upcoming T20 tournament on the lines of hugely successful IPL will aim to capture the imagination of the significant South Asian diaspora, which includes Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis.

Incidentally, pacer Ali Khan, a US citizen of Pakistani origin, was part of this year's CPL champions the Trinbago Knight Riders and was also roped in as the first US player in the IPL before an injury cut short his journey.

Apart from Shah Rukh, actress Juhi Chawla and her businessman husband Jay Mehta are also co-owners in the Knight Riders Group.

"We are delighted to partner with the Knight Riders Group in this historic partnership," said Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan of American Cricket Enterprises and Major League Cricket. "By adding the Knight Riders Group to our family of world-class and diverse investors, this investment into the future of Major League Cricket is a huge validation of our vision for the new league."

CEO of KKR and Red Chillies Entertainment Venky Mysore said, "We have had a keen interest in the developments in the United States and our expansion into the U.S. is consistent with our long-term strategy.

"We look forward to the new challenge of building cricket in the world's most sophisticated sports and media market and we believe that we can bring a huge amount of expertise to help make Major League Cricket realise the potential that it undoubtedly has," Mysore said.