Is this common practice? Otherwise what does this mean for the overall contribution of each party?
The BBL season will be shortened by 18 matches as Cricket Australia today confirmed a $1.5 billion extension of its domestic broadcast rights partnership with the Foxtel Group and Seven West Media.
The seven-year deal worth $1.512 billion formally begins in 2024, with a year still to run on the current six-year deal signed in 2018, and will see cricket remain on Fox and Seven until the end of the 2030-31 summer.
Seven – which will also have streaming rights on its free 7plus platform when the new deal begins – will continue to broadcast all men’s Tests, all women’s international matches, a minimum of 23 WBBL matches, and 33 of the 43 BBL matches.
Seven’s BBL quota will include three BBL finals matches, representing another change away from the current five-team finals structure when the new deal kicks in from BBL|14 onwards.
Men’s ODI and T20 internationals will continue to be shown on Foxtel and Kayo Sports, while those platforms will also carry 10 exclusive BBL matches that will include a ‘Super Saturday’ series.
Key points of the new broadcast deal
• Foxtel Group and Seven West Media secure a seven-year deal worth $1.512 billion
• KFC BBL will be reduced by 18 matches to 43 games from BBL|14
• The deal covers bilateral men’s and women’s series played in Australia, as well as the Big Bash competitions
• Foxtel and Kayo to show every game from men’s and women’s international and Big Bash cricket, including all men’s limited-overs internationals and 10 exclusive BBL matches
• Seven and 7plus to show all men’s Tests, all women’s international matches, a minimum of 23 WBBL matches, and 33 of the 43 BBL matches (including three BBL Finals)
• Cricket.com.au to remain the home of free highlights for all cricket
• New deal starts in mid-2024, and will run until end of 2030-31 season
• New deal represents a $19m per year increase on the six-year, $1.182bn deal signed in 2018, including a cash uplift of 10.5 per cent
• Seven has withdrawn legal proceedings against CA relating to pandemic affected BBL seasons
A reduction in BBL fixtures will see the tournament align better with the school holiday period, with more matches to be broadcast in prime time.
It will also increase the availability of international and Australian stars. CA previously worked to carve out time in January for the tournament during negotiations over the Future Tours Program.
By reducing the number of matches and adding $19m per year to the value of its broadcast rights, CA is hailing a deal that will drive further investment at all levels of the game. The domestic deal follows a record broadcast agreement with Disney Star for rights on the subcontinent.
International Cricket Council events such as the men’s and women’s T20 and ODI World Cups and World Test Championship finals, are outside the domestic broadcast rights structure, and are controlled by the ICC. Broadcast negotiations for other bilateral series played overseas are managed by the respective home cricket board, which will see the Australian men’s Test tour of India shown exclusively on Foxtel and Kayo, while the winter Ashes tour of England will be seen live on the Nine Network.
It’s because live cricket is being shown on more than one channel now - Fox Cricket and Fox Sports 503 (only for overflows during summer).
4 Likes
Men’s ODI and T20 internationals will continue to be shown on Foxtel and Kayo Sports, while those platforms will also carry 10 exclusive BBL matches that will include a ‘Super Saturday’ series.
Looks like it’s similar to AFL with super Saturday. So maybe the 10 exclusive Fox games will be only on Saturday.
So the BBL is most likely going to be 5 weeks. matches everyday with Saturday being 2 Fox exclusives
2 Likes
Great deal for Seven.
So if the final amount was $1.512b, they ended up outbidding 10?
2 Likes
Gotta hand it to Ch7, paying less for a greater percentage of matches and getting streaming too is big from them. And please, spare us the outrage over ODI’s and T20I’s being behind a paywall again. I seriously doubt Paramount would have shown them either, and besides, the BBL is much more important in the current Cricket landscape and that was obviously the priority for CA
3 Likes
Revenue sharing or revenue tied arrangements are not uncommon, put it that way.
You’ve gotta hand it to Seven, suing the governing body, moaning every 5 seconds about the standard of cricket and they’re paying a reduced fee (albeit with a smaller BBL), yet they’ve retained the rights.
15 Likes
It looks like 10 didn’t give a final bid but the final deal seems to be higher than what 10 was offering.
And all the more money is contributed by Fox. So it shows that they were desperate to keep the cricket
3 Likes
Probably a silly question, but will the WBBL fall into line with the BBL and have a reduced number of matches
1 Like
I should add that two 5-match Border Gavaskar Trophy series and two Ashes series in 7 years is too big to miss out on for 7. Add in a New Zealand series over the New Year which is probably the third biggest series for Australia, and they’re doing quite well. Especially compared to this current cycle with only 2 BGT and one ashes.
2 Likes
Which begs the question, has Ten/paramount played Fox? Forced them to give up more, even though they pulled up stumps at the start of December?
Seven is laughing, Nine would be over the moon, cause they have the tennis, Olympics, and money in the bank for NRL rights for themselves with Stan Sports.
5 Likes
As a big fan of womens cricket, I’m happy to see that South Africa will have one test match in their series. Now we just need the Kiwis to have a test match as well
1 Like
Cricket.com.au and 9 Papers seem to be reporting different rights figures??
From Paramount ANZ
We understand the interest in the most recent Cricket media rights process and while Paramount considered the rights on offer and, despite reports to the contrary by various media outlets, it became clear following consistent discussions with Cricket Australia, that our objectives and views on the future presentation of the sport and its value were not aligned.
As a result, Paramount never made a formal bid for the rights and did not actively pursue the rights over recent weeks.
We are the only Australian media company with a suite of distribution platforms across free to air and free and paid streaming services, as well as access to a global content pipeline delivering unequalled flexibility and reach, allowing us to make prudent long term business decisions.
Paramount congratulates the successful consortium and wishes them and Cricket Australia well for the future.
7 Likes
Fox Sports is the the part of “Foxtel Group” that will deliver the coverage
I wouldn’t necessarily read too much into it
3 Likes
A shorter big bash is a monumental victory for all
6 Likes
They always do this, same with the AFL rights.
Perhaps the misaligned values were that CA wanted fox for paid and streaming and were happy to have 10 involved as subservient partner to that. They weren’t interested and walked away.
All this could all be bullshit and they’re just making shit up to divert attention away from the fact they lost the rights. Who knows with the idiots at 10 and paramount.
What is corrupt is that fox having sway with these sporting bodies and these Xmas parties and the like really make no secret of that… “you either sign with us or we will destroy you”.
Ironically this rights deal is destroying CA. They can spin it all they like but it’s a really bad deal for the fans.
3 Likes
If Paramount did not make a formal bid, then who leaked the rumours that it made a $1.5 billion bid for both FTA and subscription rights?
2 Likes