Starfighter
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I suppose a thread might be worthwhile.
Saw this article posted on a certain other forum, CA effectively wants to sacrifice the white ball internationals to save the BBL. Doesn't look good for the future of FTA broadcasts either.
Saw this article posted on a certain other forum, CA effectively wants to sacrifice the white ball internationals to save the BBL. Doesn't look good for the future of FTA broadcasts either.
Cricket Australia’s bold plan to rescue Big Bash League before next TV rights deal
Cricket Australia has a radical plan to try to reignite the Big Bash League, but will it happen quickly enough for broadcasters to want to bid for the rights at the next TV deal?
Cricket Australia is set to permanently jettison white-ball internationals out of January in a desperate attempt to save the dying Big Bash League.
But the long-term rescue plan, which will guarantee the unprecedented availability of Australian stars for a large chunk of the tournament, can’t kick in until 2024 – leaving CA in a perilous position heading into a BBL season broadcasters are telling them will make-or-break the next TV rights deal.
As it stands, CA is powerless to change three ODIs against South Africa scheduled for the middle of January next summer, as well as an Australian Test team likely leaving for India before the BBL finals.
It is a scheduling double blow which once again decimates the star power of the competition in a summer where the heat is on like never before to deliver with only two summers to run on the current $1.8 billion TV deal with Channel 7 and Fox Sports.
As revealed by News Corp last month, the BBL has lost on average 450,000 viewers per game since 2016 and has been in decline for six consecutive years on Channels 10, 7 and Fox Sports.
“They’ve basically got this summer to sort it out otherwise it’s not going to be worth what it was worth. It’s just not,” one industry source said.
But CA executives are listening to the damning feedback and in Dubai last week held crucial talks with the International Cricket Council about permanently fencing off the last three weeks in January following the Sydney New Year’s Test to make it an exclusive BBL window.
It’s a potentially watershed moment for the Big Bash, because it will guarantee all Australian Test and white-ball superstars would be available every summer for a significant stretch of games, including finals – something which has never happened in the history of the competition.
But the billion dollar question is will it be too late to save cricket’s next TV rights deal from disaster?
Even if they stick with Test cricket, Channel 7 has no interest in bidding again for the BBL, and there is no sign Channels 10 or 9 would be interested in weighing in.
It’s estimated the BBL represents up to $80 million of the $186 million Channel 7 and Fox Sports are paying each year for the cricket rights – but that figure is in grave danger of shrinking dramatically and closer to the $20 million a year Channel 10 had it for in the previous TV deal.
Both Seven and Fox have told Cricket Australia executives in no uncertain terms that this coming summer is do-or-die for the BBL before negotiations for the next deal commence.
The networks want less gimmicks and more genuine star power and would be happy with fewer games if it meant better quality.
Cricket Australia have responded by nutting out an arrangement with the ICC to ensure that from 2024 when the next Future Tours cycle starts, white ball internationals in Australia are played either at the start of the summer in October and November, or in February … but never in January.
It should guarantee all Australian players are free to play in the last three weeks of the tournament.
Sources expect CA to make it a contractual obligation for all centrally contracted players that they must play some part in the BBL.
“They should be allowed to play and quite frankly, made to play,” said an industry source.
It would be a potentially game-changing breakthrough for the Big Bash League, given never before in its history has it had access to Australian international stars outside of small, random pockets.
But the tricky thing for Cricket Australia will be convincing broadcasters to take a leap of faith that the Big Bash is ready to turn a corner from 2024 under the proposed scheduling revamp, even though over the course of this six year TV deal the product has been in steady decline.
Broadcasters feel the BBL is in no man’s land.
It’s no longer the attractive entertainment product it first set out to be, and nor is it a functional development or feeder system for producing talent.
Ben McDermott, far and away the best player in the most recent BBL failed to get a bid at the Indian Premier League auction, and at last year’s World Cup not a single breakout BBL star was able to get anywhere near cracking the Australian XI.
Tim David was the pick of the Aussies at this year’s IPL auction, yet he got his million dollars largely courtesy of his work in the Pakistan Super League – now considered a superior competition to the BBL.
The farcical decision to block Steve Smith from making cameo appearances in the last BBL spotlighted how lost the competition has become.
News Corp understands Cricket Australia is highly unlikely to reduce the current 14-game home and away season, but are looking at crunching it all into six weeks to start just before Christmas and finish at the end of January.
Administrators are set to try and finally introduce an overseas player draft which has been delayed by COVID – and while big name internationals are important, both networks agree there is no substitute for having Australian stars headline the tournament.
There is no other T20 competition in the world that is competing against itself like the BBL, with the successful leagues in India, Pakistan and England all given a window uninterrupted by their international teams.
But Cricket Australia’s breakthrough talks with the ICC in Dubai has provided some long-awaited light at the end of the tunnel.
If all 11 Test players and 11 specialist white-ball internationals are playing BBL at the same time and spread evenly across the teams – there is suddenly genuine star power to lift the profile of every game and improve the languishing standards of play.
Another idea that’s been floated is whether the BBL schedule could move more to a football code model where games are played on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to create a more concentrated big hit for ratings and crowds – but it’s unclear how effective that would be when it’s school holiday period anyway.
Cricket Australia has a radical plan to try to reignite the Big Bash League, but will it happen quickly enough for broadcasters to want to bid for the rights at the next TV deal?
Cricket Australia is set to permanently jettison white-ball internationals out of January in a desperate attempt to save the dying Big Bash League.
But the long-term rescue plan, which will guarantee the unprecedented availability of Australian stars for a large chunk of the tournament, can’t kick in until 2024 – leaving CA in a perilous position heading into a BBL season broadcasters are telling them will make-or-break the next TV rights deal.
As it stands, CA is powerless to change three ODIs against South Africa scheduled for the middle of January next summer, as well as an Australian Test team likely leaving for India before the BBL finals.
It is a scheduling double blow which once again decimates the star power of the competition in a summer where the heat is on like never before to deliver with only two summers to run on the current $1.8 billion TV deal with Channel 7 and Fox Sports.
As revealed by News Corp last month, the BBL has lost on average 450,000 viewers per game since 2016 and has been in decline for six consecutive years on Channels 10, 7 and Fox Sports.
“They’ve basically got this summer to sort it out otherwise it’s not going to be worth what it was worth. It’s just not,” one industry source said.
But CA executives are listening to the damning feedback and in Dubai last week held crucial talks with the International Cricket Council about permanently fencing off the last three weeks in January following the Sydney New Year’s Test to make it an exclusive BBL window.
It’s a potentially watershed moment for the Big Bash, because it will guarantee all Australian Test and white-ball superstars would be available every summer for a significant stretch of games, including finals – something which has never happened in the history of the competition.
But the billion dollar question is will it be too late to save cricket’s next TV rights deal from disaster?
Even if they stick with Test cricket, Channel 7 has no interest in bidding again for the BBL, and there is no sign Channels 10 or 9 would be interested in weighing in.
It’s estimated the BBL represents up to $80 million of the $186 million Channel 7 and Fox Sports are paying each year for the cricket rights – but that figure is in grave danger of shrinking dramatically and closer to the $20 million a year Channel 10 had it for in the previous TV deal.
Both Seven and Fox have told Cricket Australia executives in no uncertain terms that this coming summer is do-or-die for the BBL before negotiations for the next deal commence.
The networks want less gimmicks and more genuine star power and would be happy with fewer games if it meant better quality.
Cricket Australia have responded by nutting out an arrangement with the ICC to ensure that from 2024 when the next Future Tours cycle starts, white ball internationals in Australia are played either at the start of the summer in October and November, or in February … but never in January.
It should guarantee all Australian players are free to play in the last three weeks of the tournament.
Sources expect CA to make it a contractual obligation for all centrally contracted players that they must play some part in the BBL.
“They should be allowed to play and quite frankly, made to play,” said an industry source.
It would be a potentially game-changing breakthrough for the Big Bash League, given never before in its history has it had access to Australian international stars outside of small, random pockets.
But the tricky thing for Cricket Australia will be convincing broadcasters to take a leap of faith that the Big Bash is ready to turn a corner from 2024 under the proposed scheduling revamp, even though over the course of this six year TV deal the product has been in steady decline.
Broadcasters feel the BBL is in no man’s land.
It’s no longer the attractive entertainment product it first set out to be, and nor is it a functional development or feeder system for producing talent.
Ben McDermott, far and away the best player in the most recent BBL failed to get a bid at the Indian Premier League auction, and at last year’s World Cup not a single breakout BBL star was able to get anywhere near cracking the Australian XI.
Tim David was the pick of the Aussies at this year’s IPL auction, yet he got his million dollars largely courtesy of his work in the Pakistan Super League – now considered a superior competition to the BBL.
The farcical decision to block Steve Smith from making cameo appearances in the last BBL spotlighted how lost the competition has become.
News Corp understands Cricket Australia is highly unlikely to reduce the current 14-game home and away season, but are looking at crunching it all into six weeks to start just before Christmas and finish at the end of January.
Administrators are set to try and finally introduce an overseas player draft which has been delayed by COVID – and while big name internationals are important, both networks agree there is no substitute for having Australian stars headline the tournament.
There is no other T20 competition in the world that is competing against itself like the BBL, with the successful leagues in India, Pakistan and England all given a window uninterrupted by their international teams.
But Cricket Australia’s breakthrough talks with the ICC in Dubai has provided some long-awaited light at the end of the tunnel.
If all 11 Test players and 11 specialist white-ball internationals are playing BBL at the same time and spread evenly across the teams – there is suddenly genuine star power to lift the profile of every game and improve the languishing standards of play.
Another idea that’s been floated is whether the BBL schedule could move more to a football code model where games are played on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to create a more concentrated big hit for ratings and crowds – but it’s unclear how effective that would be when it’s school holiday period anyway.
