If 10 don’t get these rights, it will be the death of the network by the end of this decade.
9 Likes
The Junction Oval is intended to host state games, at the very least - the impetus of the upgrade was to give Victoria a second first-class oval, particularly because of the likelihood of the AFL and Shield seasons encroaching on one another. (Long story short: there’d been a couple of times in the past decade where Victoria had to give up their Shield final. Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide was likely developed for the same reason with the new Adelaide Oval sharing setup.)
I couldn’t imagine it at 30k. Maybe it’d work at a scale of Hobart, Canberra or the re-developed WACA, maybe 15-17k with a semi-circle stand? I imagine that’d certainly work for some of the weekend afternoon matches.
As for Geelong, the Renegades do play 2 out of 7 games there, but I agree, once it became more accepted as a T20 venue with international games there, it seems likely a missed opportunity.
But like you say, with crowds cratering in general, I’m also pretty sure it’s also not the reason that people are staying away compared to pre-Covid.
[i’ll admit this is off-topic - split as desired please mods!]
2 Likes
From The Guardian, the only newspaper that I trust.
4 Likes
That’s a fairly balanced article with nothing really new.
The nine papers and news corp papers are fed leaks by those in the negotiations to ensure they get the upper hand. It’s hard to see CA not falling for the spin in the others efforts to say it’s dangerous to go with paramount. We don’t know where the truth lies. It’s unfortunate given they’ve been sitting on a large bid for a while and won’t sign a deal with them. These endless articles will continue.
God knows why these sporting bodies want to sign with fox. The 7/fox deal has killed cricket in this country. The audiences have a shrunk, the sponsors have fled and the crowds are down. It’s been a disaster.
2 Likes
SMH is still saying that 10 has the bigger offer & seemed to downplay 9’s new position reported by news Corp. so I think it’s only News Corp that has tried to get an upper hand
4 Likes
In an email to staff yesterday announcing that Seven had dropped out of bidding for the rights to the Olympics for 2024-2032, James Warburton noted that “cricket discussions are ongoing and I will provide an update as soon as they are finalised”.
So it looks like Seven still wants to have some live cricket content despite the court action against CA.
5 Likes
The Age is reporting that 7 is now talking to Paramount.
4 Likes
It’s a good article and hits the nail on the head: long term damage means a short term sugar hit when it comes to cricket broadcast rights.
Ten has the most compelling offer and would likely revive the BBL, having it back on FTA.
Nine would also do a good job with the lot, however, it is likely they would bid with foxtel and cricket would get wall to wall coverage in most of the major newspapers, but the BBL would suffer behind a paywall.
4 Likes
I know Murdoch have been pushing the Nine card this week, but do we really think Nine have just been speaking to Murdoch and not Ten and seeing if they can do a deal with them. Remember they have been very quiet for the whole week.
@VictorianSun sorry mate, I understand what you’re saying now. The last 48hrs has been a trip down memory lane from WWOS with cricket.
Even showing classic catches from state cricket and the following post, with this heading! 
“Sounds that live in our head rent-free”. 
3 Likes
Probably because they have been working on their Olympics deal???
1 Like
Nine is not believed to have submitted a formal bid and is not in agreement with CA on how much the rights are worth.
All networks believe CA has overvalued how much its rights are worth, given it is struggling to attract large audiences to the BBL and the poor ratings of Test matches between Australia and the West Indies (who are returning for summer next year).
Nine masthead obviously, but this is extremely amusing. The sooner these sports codes learn a basic economic principle known as ‘return on investment’, the better.
1 Like
3 Likes
I could live with this if it means no Fox
2 Likes
Seems like CA hasn’t changed since the last broadcast rights.
1 Like
I think it’s been mentioned already but for those unaware of Richard Freudenstein’s conflict:
former Foxtel chief executive Richard Freudenstein has joined the CA board and is leading the advisory group on the rights deal. Freudenstein still works as a paid director of real-estate listings portal REA Group, a News Corp controlled, earning $242,000 last year per its annual report.
1 Like
Zoe Samios has been pretty spot on most of this year. Interesting that 7 now desperate and are seeking out a partnership with paramount. Looks like an absolute schamozzle with CA a complete disaster to work with. The deal should’ve been signed a week ago with Paramount and 10.
9 really don’t need cricket now. They’ve got the tennis and the Olympics every two years with the UK ashes series ajd cricket World Cup. That’s enough to sustain them.
5 Likes
How?
Yet so much blame previously attributed to 7 by some?
2 Likes
I think if 7 is talking to Paramount it says that 7 is starting to realise just how toxic Fox/News Corp are and it’s not as if Foxtel haven’t been losing subscribers too.
1 Like