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Cricket Australia rejects Nine / TEN joint offer as cheating scandal breaks out

Cricket Australia chief won't be heading to South Africa so can he continue negotiations with media organisations.

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Cricket Australia has rejected a joint bid for broadcast rights from Nine and TEN because they were not high enough.

“CA can confirm it rejected the bid of the consortium. Discussions are ongoing with other parties,” a Cricket Australia spokesman said.

Those discussions include FOX Sports however anti-siphoning laws mean Test matches, Australian Twenty-20s and one-day internationals cannot be shown exclusively on Pay TV unless the Free to Air networks pass on the content. The laws do not cover the Big Bash, which is broadcast on TEN.

FOX Sports executives were said to be frustrated by the combined Nine-TEN bid and restrictions imposed by the anti-siphoning list.

The negotiations for the 6 year deal continue at a time when a cheating scandal has broken out in the game.

Updated: Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland will now be heading to South Africa while players are expected to lose endorsements. Observers now expect Cricket Australia to fall short of the $1B it was seeking for broadcast rights as a direct result of the scandal.

Steve Smith has been stood down as the skipper of the Australian side, suspended for one Test and fined 100 per cent of his match fee for conduct contrary to the spirit of the game. Cameron Bancroft has been handed a three demerit points and also fined 75 per cent of his match fee for ball tampering.

Source: AFR.com, Sydney Morning Herald, News Corp

24 Responses

  1. CA should have taken whatever nine ten offered now with this scandal they have no hope of doing my better could get even less now half of what they want .the fact is cricket has to be on FTA TV its on the anti shphoning list there is no better deal from pay tV or streaming services like Optus .

  2. If Cricket Australia were smart they would have taken the joint bid, with the events happening over the weekend the brand is not worth as much now. The Networks should stick to their guns as this TV rights battle is just giving obscene amounts of money to players, i thought that they played because they liked the game. Silly me it is all about the money. TV networks should not play their game.

  3. The is worrthy of a documentary it would be awesome. I do agree with other commenters, SevenWest CEO Tim Worner stated (paraphrrasing here) that the Networks can not pay substantially more than they can afford, meaning they can continue and most likely will not continue to pay over the odds for tv rights. Steve Allen of Fusion Media last year said pretty much the same. The tv rights are exxpensive yet the ad money is shrinking, sport is a loss leader in real terms. Nine is losing money on Cricket and they have been advised not to increase they bid substantially or to get a better deal ie more content without losing any more. CA have other options such as Optus, Telstra, FOXtel and Google/Facebook. but ifthey go with those the visibilty erodes considerably EPL on Optus is an example and NBL, A league when it was only on FOX . Interesting times ahead in next negotiation, would love to be…

  5. CA rejected the bid because 9 & 10 just put in a joint bid for everything, instead of bidding separately for 11 separate packages as required. They intend to take what they want and onsell the rest to Foxtel to reduce costs. They put in something just to beat Foxtel, and Seven’s low ball bid, to start new negotiations on their terms. Foxtel put in a separate bid for everything, planning on show what’s on the anti-syphoning list with an FTA partner. There is no hurry, this deal is for after the 2018/19 season.

    1. “There is no hurry, this deal is for after the 2018/19 season”, yes there is a hurry because it starts the season coming up. Nine and Ten’s broadcast deal expired last season.

      1. Yes. CA postponed the negotiations untill the Network TEN recievership/ownership saga was sorted out hoping to increase competition for the rights. So now they have to get a deal done. Foxtel has not leg to stand on in terms of them complaining about the Anti-siphoning list. They can just do a deal with Nine and bypass the list that way. but what they want is control to on sell and make more money. The FTA networks want the same thing. When 7 and 10 won the AFL rights for 2007-2011 i thought all games would be on FTA but they ended up selling games to Foxtel. TEN need bbl i think they will get more international games and will not have exclusivity over the BBL. It is still possible with CBS owning TEN that Nine will not have to fork out much more for BBL and will give up some Interrnational games which could lock out Foxtel. still lets see how it unfolds

  6. 7West & News Corp should do a deal similar to how AFL rights work. Fox Sports shows every game live (on proposed fox cricket channel), 7 broadcasts test cricket, ODIs/T20s required by anti siphoning laws + select Big Bash.

    1. Just remember the AFL rights aren’t just different, they’re very different. For around 4 broadcast deals now, they provide markets outside Vic to see their local teams on free-to-air (that is Seven simulcast Foxtel), plus other stipulations in the rights too.

      There’s no way CA would want Foxtel to erode the FTA potential.

      1. true. also its unlikely anyway because these are international matches and BBL is that popular CA would be stupid to give certain games exclusively to FOX. The current AFL deal also means that some games in SA and WA (not sure about NSW/QLD) are delayed or replayed. before all always games were Live not any more if FOX Footy produces/covers those games.

      2. certainly not since Big Bash is the premier event now – I doubt they will want to go back to sub 200K ratings when they get close to 800-900k per game now

      3. Well you’ll possibly have a deal where fox carries the game nationally and 7 gets the local FTV rights. Adelaide V a Perth (live on Foxtel and on 7Adelaide/Perth)

        1. Add the FTA local + Foxtel national numbers and you’ll hit nearly the same level as a national broadcast on FTA. Except this is a more lucrative model for Cricket Australia and still gives maximum exposure. 7 may broadcast 1 game per week nationally and simulcast on Fox Sports. Same goes for ODIs, IT20 and Tests. But give events of last week, this is going to be the best option for CA to reach people and make enough $. Ad value for FTA cricket may also be deminished, with less brands willing to be involved.

  7. I don’t know where these sports administrators come from. Not enough money, by who’s standard. If they lower gate prices they get a decent crowd at the same. They just cannot expect more n more money from broadcasters and the public.

  9. Huge discount on the way now courtesy of players who have disgraced themselves and the game. Big thankyou owed to them from whoever gets the rights. Money corrupts everything, absolutely.

    1. FTA networks and scandals go hand in hand. They will all be clamouring for the rights now so they can make a hybrid My Kitchen Test Match Rules South Africa Edition

      patent pending

      2. During the Lunch and Tea breaks they’ll do a new version of Mythbusters/Brainiacs, where they’ll see if you can really get extra shine on a cricket ball with a mint as per South African Captain du Plessis tried. While also comparing whether a piece of electrical tape with dirt on it as per Aust Captain Smith and co., is any better at roughing up a ball as rubbing it vigorously on the teeth of your pants zipper as per South African Captain du Plessis.

        We will be able to watch as former test Cricketers like Shane Warne and Brett Lee bowl the balls to determine which type of bowler each suits better. Ian Healy will commentate on which looks better from a wicket keepers perspective, while Michael Clarke will give a right handed batter’s view and Adam Gilchrist will give a left handed batters view.

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