Cricket Australia's bumper new TV rights deal and what it means for viewers

On reading the terms of the the new $1.18bn cricket broadcast deal, Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland spoke of its wide-ranging benefits. “We see this as an outstanding result for Australian cricket fans,” he said.

Despite confirming that all Australian ODI and T20I matches will shift from free-to-air to pay TV – a service only about a third of Australians have access to – the deal aligned with their strategy of “making a more meaningful contribution for fans and to community cricket”.

It’s familiar spin. In 2005 the England and Wales Cricket Board moved cricket onto pay TV and claimed the move was a good result for fans. It would enable more hours of content and ensured the grassroots would thrive under the new investment that swelled their coffers. English fans didn’t buy it, and it is well-known they began deserting cricket en-masse after that year’s incredible Ashes series. It’s a cautionary tale, and one that would have been ringing in Sutherland’s head as he deliberated with executives this week.

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But he chose not to listen. Today’s announcement confirmed that two out of three forms of international cricket will, from next summer, be stuck behind a pay wall. The elusive $1bn mark CA executives so desperately wanted has been reached, and corks are popping at headquarters.

But it is an almighty risk that has the possibility to do lasting damage to fan engagement. Six years without international white ball cricket on free-to-air TV was, despite Sutherland’s positive stance, the biggest sacrifice the governing body were forced into in this deal, and the carrot of exclusivity Foxtel craved. While attendance for ODI and T20I cricket has dropped in previous years, TV numbers have remained strong. Financially this is a huge coup for CA, but at what cost? It is arguable that they are facilitating a short-term funding boost to the detriment of long-term exposure on TV screens.

What's it worth?

$1.182bn over six years

Who has them?

Seven Network and Fox Sports

Who has lost them?

Nine Network and Network Ten

How you can watch the Australian cricket summer

Fox Sports (pay tv): all men's Tests, men's ODIs, men's T20s, women's internationals, BBL (43 matches simulcast with Seven, 16 exclusive), WBBL (all 23 matches)

Seven Network (free to air): all men's Tests, women's internationals, BBL (43 matches), WBBL (23 matches)

Cricket fans without pay TV have every right to feel let down by the anti-siphoning list, legislation designed to protect important sporting events from being shown exclusively on pay TV. Up until now international cricket in Australia has always been on free-to-air television and fans would be forgiven for thinking it was this water-tight legislation that ensured this. It doesn’t, as was made abundantly clear today.

Seven decided it didn’t want to broadcast ODI and T20I cricket, passing on those matches to Foxtel in what was presumably an agreement reached by the pair before signing. The first four questions directed at an increasingly irritated Sutherland, Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany and Seven West Media’s Tim Worner post-announcement was about whether they complied with anti-siphoning.

They did, as it turns out, as anti-siphoning rules merely mandate that broadcast rights cannot be acquired first by a subscription broadcaster. It is then the decision of the sporting body to dictate its terms. Communications minister Mitch Fifield said it wasn’t the Government’s role to interfere in negotiations. “It is for Cricket Australia to explain how the arrangements they have entered into are in the interests of cricket fans and participants,” Senator Fifield said.

In more promising news, it was also announced that every Australian women’s international, plus 23 Women’s Big Bash League games, will be shown on free-to-air TV as part of the deal. This is yet another boost to the women’s game still riding a wave from last year’s hugely successful World Cup and Women’s Ashes. It also almost doubles the number of WBBL games (12) shown on Network Ten last season.

Access aside, the new deal also marks a huge shift in on-screen content. Since Kerry Packer’s cricket revolution in the late 70s, Channel Nine and CA have been cosy bedfellows. Their breakup marks a big change, and it remains to be seen how Foxtel or Seven will approach the game. Delany confirmed that Fox Sports and Channel Seven will have different commentary teams, which also proved a surprise. Nine were criticised last year for pre-Ashes promotional material showcasing a commentary team with little diversity and change. Ten, however, were lauded (production and commentary-wise) for the way they broadcast the Big Bash, arguably playing a lead role in making the competition such a commercial success.