As we get closer to the start of BBL 07 it’s a good time to talk about expansion, starting a second division, instituting promotion and relegation and starting new competition to guard against baseball.
In the first six seasons of its existence the BBL has developed into a sporting juggernaut which could soon knock the AFL off its perch when it comes to having the highest average attendance of any code in Australia.
The AFL’s average attendance currently sits at 35,000 while the BBL is at 30,000. But the BBL has been around for only six seasons and is now going into it’s seventh. This rapid success is driving calls for expansion, while some online have even suggested that the BBL could start a second division with promotion and relegation.
Looking at the growth rate of the BBL, it will soon take the title of having the highest average attendance away from the AFL, especially when the Perth Scorchers have been held back by the capacity of the WACA. Once the new 55,000-seat stadium as Burswood opens it will boost the BBL’s average attendance quite nicely.
(AAP Image/David Mariuz)
The other big area for improvement in attendances is in Melbourne. Last season’s Melbourne derby had an attendance of 80,883 at the MCG, but this might not be as good as it first sounds.
While the 80,000 figure looks impressive, it isn’t much better than both teams’ 2016-17 season home averages individually. The Melbourne Stars average was 49,578 while the Renegades average was 30,033.
In other words the match only drew fans who are currently supporters of those teams. But, more importantly, the Melbourne Stars are able to only half fill the MCG for a number of matches. By comparison the best average home attendance for an AFL team in the same year was Richmond with 55,958, followed by Essondon with 50,812 and Collingwood in third with 46,815.
The best thing to do in my opinion would be to merge the two Melbourne clubs together so that the new team can reach the full capacity of the MCG for every home game. Then at the same time a new team can be added for geographic expansion of the competition.
(AAP Image/Joe Castro)
So who should be the BBL’s eighth team?
The BBL was established to help spread the appeal of the sport and Cricket Australia seem to be focusing on regional locations if new expansion teams are introduced, so you can rule out anywhere from the major cities.
Townsville, Cairns and Darwin are all in the tropics in high rainfall locations, so they’re unlikely.
A successful bid will require a stadium, so this narrows things down to Gold Coast, Canberra, Geelong and Launceston. The Gold Coast might be a bit risky going on previous form, while Kardinia Park is being pushed to add content not because of its suitability for cricket.
Kardinia Park is quite narrow and Geelong itself is about the size of Hobart, which had an average attendance of 17,570 last season. That would only half fill the current stadium in Geelong, which will soon be upgraded to 40,000 seats for the AFL. Australia already has enough half-empty stadiums as it is.
(AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Cricket is the most popular sport in Tasmania and Launceston holds the current Tasmanian attendance records for both AFL and A-League matches, so support should be solid enough – but Tasmania already has a team in Hobart.
This just leaves Canberra as the next team that could join the BBL and who could potentially fill the gap that would be left if the two Melbourne teams merged together.
If it can fill the MCG for every home match, the new Melbourne team will have the highest average home attendance of any club of any code in Australia, which will be a massive statement for cricket. It would also boost the average attendance of all the other clubs.
Adding Canberra will take the BBL to every state and territory in Australia apart from the Northern Territory, which would be affected by weather. Canberra deserves its own team rather than just getting the scraps from Greater Western Sydney or the Sydney Thunder. Treating the nation’s capital as a suburb of western Sydney is an insult.
(AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
Can the BBL sustain a second division?
In addition to calls for expansion there have also been a few suggestions online about starting a second division with promotion and relegation.
If promotion and relegation were to be introduced, you might want to expand the BBL to a ten-team format to create a larger buffer to the relegation zone. This would require two leagues with ten teams in each.
The travel costs normally associated with other codes wouldn’t be nearly as high for a shorter length T20 season with fewer teams and far fewer matches, so travel costs for a BBL second division wouldn’t be an issue, perhaps as little as $4 million to $5 million. That just leaves financial and local fan support for teams in a second division as the main questions.
Germany’s top flight Bundesliga has an average attendance of 41,511 and the English Premier League has an average attendance of 35,822. Their second divisions have average attendances of 21,735 and 20,119 respectively. If BBL second-division teams could get a similar proportion of fans to show up for second division matches, then a second division would work.
Using Hobart’s average home attendance of 17,570 as a guide for regional teams, even 30 per cent of that would be enough support to run a team as long as they have a good stadium deal.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Where would second-division teams be based?
If new teams were based in the major cities, they would just dilute support for the current ones, but Cricket Australia seem to be promoting regional locations for expansion to help spread the code geographically. It’s also important not to allow Baseball Australia to fill the void with the Australian Baseball League. Baseball Australia are also focused on regional Australia as part of their own aggressive expansion plans.
Baseball Australia are proactively pursuing having not just one but two teams in Tasmania specifically because of the dithering by other codes. This will be possible due to the ABL’s low cost structure.
The Hobart Mercury reported that “a club could successfully function on a $700,000 annual budget with crowds of 800-1000 for home games, with games played out of North Hobart Oval and UTas Stadium.”
(AAP Image/Theron Kirkman)
Baseball Australia have their eyes on places like the Gold Coast, Lismore, Newcastle and Wollongong. Cricket Australia need to watch out and protect them. A trickle becomes a flood.
So with competition from baseball in mind, Cricket Australia could put second-division teams on the Sunshine Coast and in the Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Newcastle, Wollongong, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Albury-Wodonga and Launceston.
Whether or not Cricket Australia would actually support starting a second division is another matter, but it would be a relatively small investment for to start with teams from regional areas to head off baseball if they wish to do so. They could call this the Regional Australia Big Bash League, or RABBL for short.
The biggest thing holding back implementing promotion and relegation, however, would be the TV executives and what they would think of big teams dropping down. It might be a bridge too far, but maybe a league like the RABBL could still have a place even without it, especially when it comes to competing with the cashed-up Major League Baseball, who are trying to move in and steal young talent.
Baseball just isn’t cricket, but it could pay for cricket to be wary.
David
Guest
I think this article was a joke but there is scope to develop 20/20 cricket in Australia - just not with more National teams. How about this: Set up a system for each state designed to keep the standard reasonably high. For example, in NSW and Vic there might be an 8 franchise team comp whereas WA, SA, Qld and Tas a 6 team comp. Games could be played at Premier Cricket Grounds rather than stadiums to minimize the cost and to promote the local district cricket clubs. The comps should all be played around the same time then a finals series in one place for the winners of each state competition. This would showcase the next level of 20/20 cricketers without diluting the National competition. In football terms, this is more like the VFL, SANFL, WAFL etc. but make it franchise based rather than district cricket club based.
Mark
Guest
The obvious expansion would be for Auckland and Christchurch.
punter
Guest
Some people take the AFL a bit more serious then that!!!!
QConners
Roar Pro
I find it very amusing that you're suggesting a Football-esc 'Pro/Rel System' for our Cricket league, however we are still years and years away from it being a reality in our Football League. The only logical expansion I can see for the future would be to move into NZ and have teams in Auckland & Wellington, potentially even Christchurch. Nationally, Australia loves the BBL and Cricket, moving internationally will be how it will grow and increase the quality. Potentially even a SAF team could join once NZ teams are stable?
Beny Iniesta
Guest
Excellent troll. Truly excellent. Would I be correct in identifying this as a very subtle dig at the A-League boosters who are continually talking about completely pie-in-the-sky ridiculous moronic A-League Second Divisions and Promotion / Relegation between A-League 1 and A-League 2??!?! Is that the target of the troll? LOL This had me laughing all the way through. The RABBLe! Haha, correct. How anyone could seriously suggest getting rid of the Melbourne Rebels to replace them with a team in Canberra! Haha. Completely insane, but a completely incisive trolling. Troll level 100%. And then throwing in references to Baseball Australia setting up a 2-bit Regional Baseball League! Ha - you can't be serious! I assume you're as concerned about those other American sports - basketball, ice hockey and gridiron taking over the Australian sporting landscape! LOL As if. Will never happen. Great troll though. Great troll. It's good The Roar includes some humorous articles like this to break up some of the dross! Three Cheers for the Troll King!
Basil
Guest
You really have no idea.
not so super
Guest
hes got plenty worse than this
Timmuh
Roar Guru
I wasn't sure if this was a serious article or not, but the RABBL acronym confirmed it isn't.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
It appears a lot of time and research has gone into preparing and writing this article. I knew I could find a positive if I tried hard enough.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Its entertainment and nothing more. The cricket is secondary to the atmosphere and its done and dusted in a few hours. Perfect for a modern society that wants every immediately or sooner. But hey, if it gets crowds through the gates and that money assists in building the game so that test cricket, the real version of the game, continues to be promoted, I can live with it. Just don't ask me to consider it a credible version of the game.
Bill
Guest
What's the saying: Lies, damned lies & statistics! Audtralia's BBL is played over a short period. It commences in a calendar period when it's not in collision with other major sports or events. A true test of its popularity is the 'massive' build up to its Grand Final. Don't you recall last year's BBL GF - the ticker tape parade before the match, the news conferences .. something akin to an AFL GF! Absolutely not! In fact who played in last year's Big Bash final. If you really followed the author's extrapolation, based on daily attendances, then the Australian Open (tennis) would be the nation's most popular sport. It's not but for the fortnight, I suspect it has a far greater hold over Australia that the Big Bash let alone other parts of the globe.
sheek
Guest
It never ceases to amaze me people watch this tip & giggle stuff.
Wayne
Roar Guru
AFL has been around for ages, VFL longer before that. BBL 6 years and pushing numbers similar to them. I'd say BBL is doing fine. Canberra for next team, east coast time zone. Hell, even an NZ team would be on cards in a Wellington pr Auckland.
Sava
Guest
Nick I don't think much will have to be done to increase the popularity of the BBL after watching Steve Smith ,who is the one of best Test Cricket batsman in the world ,face 250 bowls to score a 100 runs,how boring ,compared to the BBL style of play,the golf was more exciting . Dont tell me leaving bowls go through to the wicket keeper is A GOOD LEAVE. Sava
jamesb
Guest
I do think that the standard dropped a little bit last season. There were some poor games. I'm not sure about BBL extensions just yet, unless they increase the import quota. As for second division, keep dreaming.
bearfax
Guest
Not a fan of course. But then I'm from an older generation and still like the longer form game. If it works, I wish it well.
Paul J
Guest
Unless the quality of cricket improves from last season, I won't be watching it. Found the season before last better than last years. Maybe the novelty is wearing off
Brendon
Guest
Ummm, no on virtually every count. Why combine two Melbourne teams just to get more people to the MCG? Not going to happen in a million years. What's with peoples obsession with replicating the awful, bloated, ridiculous and stupid European football system? Promotion/relegation systems are terrible. If Australia wants to look to a foreign sporting league then the NFL is by and far the best model to look at even though I personally find American Football to be a horrendous sport. European football literally goes for 10 months a year. The English system is so bloated and inefficient that it actually hinders the financial growth of the game. Too many teams and too many competitions. Lets not repeat those mistakes for the BBL. The NFL is over and done with in 6 months, only two cities have 2 teams. 32 teams for 320 million people compared to 20 premier league teams for 55 million or the current 8 teams for 24.5 million for the BBL. Not only is the European promotion/relegation system terrible it doesn't suit Australia. Australia's population is dominated by 5 major capitals and a few small-medium regional cities. Sydney and Melbourne alone count for 40% of Australia's total population. Besides London England has few big cities and lots of medium population cities like Manchester, Liverpool etc. Both Melbourne and Brisbane are bigger than England's 2nd and 3rd biggest cities even though England /Wales has almost 30 million more people. The demographics of Australia just don't support a tier system like England. Look at the problems of rapid growth of the AFL and especially the NRL and Super Rugby. Lets not just jam more teams into the BBL thinking that it will automatically grow the game. Look at the monstrous failure of the Rebels and Force in rugby. Look at the waste of the Gold Coast teams in the NRL and AFL. As I pointed out the NFL is over in 6 months. 16 games, 17 rounds then single game playoffs. Keep people wanting more. That's the success of the BBL. Too many teams, too many games will not only weaken the BBL it will weaken Australian cricket like Super Rugby expansion weakened Australian rugby. Australia's national team performance has declined in almost perfection correlation with Super Rugby expansion. As for baseball. It suffers the game problems football and basketball. Namely that an Australia competition will never rival the MLB or even the NPB in Japan. Not only that baseball lacks the international focus basketball and especially football has. Yes, baseball is coming back to the Olympics but no one cares about Olympic baseball in comparison to the basketball and the few international baseball tournaments have less coverage than FIBA's World Cup.
not so super
Guest
i have really missed Nick's crazy expansion articles. some of the conclusions and ideas are that deluded and off the mark it is great comedy
peeeko
Guest
comparisons with 20 team football leagues that play 38 game seasons with few free tickets are meaningless