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Joined May 2014
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16 teams in groups of 4 would make a shorter tournament and fewer meaningless/dull games. It would also increase the number of countries where the tournament might be watched, but only slightly. Better than hearing the ICC lying that the World Cup is watched by 2.5 billion people who don’t exist!
On the downside, the qualifying stages would be less compelling – not that they’re very interesting at the moment.
You have to grow the sport. No other sport is deliberately shrinking like this. Reducing to 10 has the feeling of the big nations trying to increase their own revenue.
A 10-team Cricket World Cup is not Ideal, but at least make it interesting
Top 8 seems like a lot, but it gives mid-table teams something to play for in the closing weeks. If you restrict it to 2 teams, most of the league will be out of the running – and then a solitary Grand Final is a little pointless if the 2nd-best team wins it.
There’s still the issue of the bottom teams (like the Sharks this year) having not much to play for at the end of the season. But that could only be solved if the NRL introduced relegation to lower leagues… pretty unlikely.
Australian sports leagues seem to fall between two stools – having big 16- or 18-team divisions like in soccer, but with finals systems and permanent team “franchises” like in American sports. The finals were always going to be a bit messy, a bit of a compromise.
A mathematical pickle to spice up the NRL finals
First 9 rounds of 2013 vs. First 9 rounds of 2014
is a fairer comparison, but may require some adding
http://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/2013.html#rbr
http://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/2014.html#rbr
Where were all the fans at the start of the year?
Dude, the FA Cup Final’s lost the afternoon kickoff as well! It’s in the dreaded twilight zone (5:15 to 7pm, plus possible extra time).
It was changed by the backdoor – the 2012 final moved because of Premier League games at 3pm – and it wasn’t actually instigated by TV. But evidently the FA could ask for more TV money that way, so they’ve made it permanent. (Incidentally, the current head of the FA is former TV boss Greg Dyke.)
AFL grand final under lights? A dark idea
No need to get sidetracked, this is ultimately due to the ICC’s greed. If it were up to the ICC, it seems, all TV coverage in every country would be sold to the highest bidder, and possibly unseen by new cricket fans. It’s a sad situation, but it makes me thankful for the existing anti-siphoning laws (in India, Australia, UK etc). In New Zealand, the co-host nation, the coverage is much worse.
How to watch the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup Quarter Finals on TV, online, streaming and radio