On the 13th of April 2018, only 16 days after the ball tampering embarrassment that shook the Cricket world, the then Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland confirmed a $1.182-billion deal.
The deal was for both Foxtel and Channel Seven to broadcast international cricket and the KFC Big Bash games until the conclusion of the 2024 season.
However, one of the significant points of contention in the arrangement was that One Day international cricket and T20 International cricket was not going to air on free-to-air television and instead would air on pay TV provider Foxtel.
ODI cricket and T20 international cricket are on the anti siphoning list in Australia, which is an Australian government regulation is designed to prevent the likes of Foxtel from buying full and exclusive rights to televise sport that is of significance to the nation.
(Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Channel Ten, when bidding for the rights in 2018, believed it could broadcast all cricket on free-to-air tv which included the ODIs, T20I’s and Big Bash League matches.
Cricket has been known as a sport that is unwilling to move with the times, such was the reluctance for India to venture into the new aged world which was T20 all those years ago.
Some could argue Cricket Australia was the most unwilling of them all to move with the times as the Big Bash League was created four years following to the IPL’s inception. But Channel Ten’s eye for the ever-changing attention span of 21st century society panned the new focus of Cricket Australia.
Channel Ten signed a $100-million, five-year deal for the Big Bash League broadcast rights – which in hindsight was the greatest broadcast deal in history.
But Channel Ten changed the game, with full crowds every night, fireworks blowing out of everyone’s lounge chair, sponsorship increases, along with players and commentators alike being conformed as characters of the game – just like when Ricky Ponting sung Mark Waugh’s Barmy Army tune in front of one million people. Wasn’t that enthralling tv?
But all of this commotion surrounding the Big Bash, it wouldn’t nearly be as much if it wasn’t for Foxtel. If it wasn’t for Foxtel there wouldn’t be the Big Bash as we know it.
Maybe we would still be in a state-driven T20 format where Queensland would play against South Australia instead of the Heat playing against the Strikers.
The same can be said about Spidercam, zing bails and player mics. They were all introduced during the primitive Big Bash seasons. But while Foxtel created the revolution, the Channel 10 reign was unmatched. It brought bigger crowds and exposed the expanded audience of free-to-air tv to cricket.
What can be said is nothing has changed crowd-wise since those primitive days of the Big Bash in seasons 1 and 2. Crowds are considerably below attendances set in previous seasons, baring in mind the Covid restrictions on crowds.
According the Sydney Morning Herald the BBL had an average crowd attendance of 17,921, which is reported to be 40 per cent less than 2016-17 when all games where exclusive to free-to-air tv.
But is the crowd attendance drop because of the broadcasting arrangement or is it because of the lack of relevance the Big Bash holds to the everyday Australian cricket lover. In the 2020 season, the international players include Keemo Paul, Benny Howell and Danny Briggs.
With all due respect to these cricketers who spent 14 days in quarantine to play in the competition, these blokes aren’t necessarily ticking the turnstiles over.
Is the Big Bash irrelevant or are the ODIs and T20Is irrelevant?
sheek
Roar Guru
Timmy, Initially the money flowing from TV broadcasting rights was supposed to go to players, coaches, clubs & improving the game itself. But now everyone has their about in the trough. CEOs & other management administrators are on huge salaries. For doing what, exactly? And the coach, plus an assistant, a doctor, a couple of physics & trainers, has grown into an army of support staff. Why, they have psychiatrists now, & all sorts of mental support specialists. Marketeers are into their crap, & merchandisers want to change the playing gear every year. Just too many people with their snouts in the trough.
redbackfan
Roar Rookie
am in the pro T20 group. I wish it was around when I was playing. One of the frequent comments from the grumpy old men here is "club cricketers". only a few don't represent state or country and I am guessing most of the grumpy old men are pretty busy watching "club footballers" of all codes in winter. the bbl players are a much more select group if that is important to you. pretty sure its made it a more attractive career pathway for youngsters than 10 years ago when there was only shield and test cricket available.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Just be prepared to not really sleep until they are 6 or 7 :stoked: Really, I think I have average aroubd 3 hours a night.
Rob9
Roar Guru
I was watching a game till 11 o’clock the other night. I’m just keeping my nostrils above water in this new parenting game and in no place to offer tips.... but I’d imagine cans of red bull at dinner aren’t advisable
Rob9
Roar Guru
Exactly. In my state, cricket is the only sport to remove the cost factor from the equation- thanks to the BBL’s success.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
T20 has a place, but it is not so gradually replacing cricket rather than supplementing it.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
Tests finishing with the New Years Test was not always the case, but had been the norm for a while. It varied depending a bit on visiting teams, etc, but mostly since they stopped switching between Tests and ODIs and played them in separate blocks (mid-80s?) I think it has usually - not always - been the case.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Having said that, cricket really needs a domestic competition with gravity. A competition like MLB that can fill the coffers whether or not England or India are in town. A competition where the winner matters. With a Grand Final that you want to watch with all your mates around a barbie or down the pub. It’s not easy. It’s not just about the latest marketing gimmick. It’s about building culture and history. And that takes time. A lot of time. I have said this many times, even written articles on it, but until players have to perform on a domestic level with the expectation of fans of winning and scoring runs our batsmen will continue to come into international cricket with no experience of that pressure, and no amount of Aus A games will fix that, nor does the Greg Chappell method of throwing kids in the deep end for a one day game here of there in their early 20's fix that either. Look where Heazlett and Stanlake are now.
Rellum
Roar Guru
I have young kids and there is no way I have time to sit down to watch a BBL game until they are asleep and by that time the game is over.
Rellum
Roar Guru
State carnivals usually involve parents spending hundreds, and for country kids- upwards of $1k to send their students to these events. This is not a good thing and just another reason why talented kids slip through the cracks.
Peter85
Roar Rookie
I think you hit the key point or having the domestic season provide appropriate match practice for test selection. My memory may be failing me but pre big bash the season was one test pre Christmas and then January tests or did it always finish in Sydney and then go into the ODI tri series? I only mention March tests for those throw away two test series against Afghanistan or Bangladesh that the tv networks barely care about.
Lance Boil
Roar Rookie
The arguments about the "bonafides" of T20 as cricket are ironically made possible because of the enduring nature of Test Cricket IMHO. Despite some relative minor tinkering with the game i.e DRS, numbers on shirts etc it still grips it's followers, satisfying and frustrating with all the enduring variables i.e weather, pitch, players, the ball new and old, a rich and glorious history and of course umpires. Test cricket despite the sometimes good and sometimes appalling TV coverage these days has defied commodification. Not ideal commercially but deeply satisfying to fans.
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
@sheek yeah agree best place for T20 is for kids intro into the game. But that's pretty much what I played as a 9 year old anyway. And I agree T20 for adults is incompatible with longer forms of the game (ie more than 1 day). There's only a handful of players that are great at all forms. BBL has been around less than 10 years I think so as sports go that's a very fast rise and fall. At current rate of decline it will be dead within 3 years :thumbup:
Timmuh
Roar Guru
I would prefer tests played in January, when more people have time off - mostly a day time thing. But that means moving the BBL if we want long format form to pick players from, which won't happen. Nor will a March Test series, the broadcasters are way too focussed on the AFL and NRL seasons by then. But something that gets more Test players playing more Shield games and not on 50 or 20 duty would be very welcome.
PeteB
Roar Rookie
Overly manufactured and fake game is the BBL. Haven’t watched it for years and couldn’t tell you who plays for each team. Not even sure I could name all the teams.
Anth
Roar Rookie
BBL attracts has been's and never was's. I understand it has a place for those who care not to expand their minds. Test cricket is where it s at, My God I realised this nearly fifty years ago. I saw Lillee, Richards, Sobers, Gavaskar, Boycott. For God's sake Gavaskar played out a n ODI at 36 not out after sixty overs as an opener. Does anyone reckon he gave a f..k. Tests are where one gauges themselves as both a cricketer and a person. The BBL is completely irrelevant.
Anth
Roar Rookie
Look I hae been following cricket since the mid seventies, that day I came home after school and saw Alvin Kallicharan score a Test century against Australia in possibly 1975 or 1976 I was hooked. Test cricket is the be all and end all. It is an art form, ODI's and T20's bring SFA to the table. Test cricket is all that matters, you can raffle the rest.
andyfnq
Roar Rookie
Big Bash is fun but International cricket is more interesting and relevant, and test match cricket is the most interesting and relevant. The fact that I support the Renegades has nothing to do with that ranking system.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
A lot of the time its small things that build up. And we the fans are fans, we watch even when something annoys us a little. We even still watched cricket in the MacNamara years. So long as they only lose a few fans, doing more for sponsors and broadcasters; even at the expense of the sporting part itself; is worth it for those whose bonuses are based on revenue and not middle-aged fan satisfaction.
Rob9
Roar Guru
Sometimes, people’s inability to see beyond the end of their nose to catch a glimpse of the big picture is frightening. Ok, Big Bash/T20 is not everyone’s cup of tea. And there are plenty of diehard cricket fans who fall into that category. But T20 is here, it’s been here for a while now, and it ain’t going anywhere. You might think it’s passionless and meaningless and you may be counting down till it’s not on every night of the week, but we’re not all like you. Actually, it seems quite a few of us aren’t. Tell Matt Renshaw and his Adelaide Strikers team mates who were ripping into Kane Richardson after his dismissal that it’s passionless. Or look around any city and take note of the countless BBL caps and jerseys on kids these days and tell them it’s meaningless. As for ‘competing globally’; good luck capturing the attention of new fans with test cricket. If you’re not a test cricket fan now or you weren’t brought up in a country where the long version of the game isn’t embedded in the national sporting and cultural landscape- you’re not going to be. Mark these words (which are actually supported by evidence)- T20 has sparked interest in cricket amongst kids again. Unless we’re planning on cricket eventually becoming a ‘golden oldies’ sport before dying out- the T20 revolution has been the best thing the game could have hoped for.