0/5

$5.3 million reduction for Seven in Cricket dispute

Amount is well short of network expectations, but feud may not be over.

Seven has been awarded a $5.3m reduction in its dispute with Cricket Australia over the 2020-21 cricket season.

But the figure is said to be well short of the amount the network was seeking (media articles estimated $70m).

The expert appointed by the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration determined that $5.3 million should be deducted from the next scheduled rights fee payment due on Monday.

The expert also determined that, if the Afghanistan Test is not rescheduled for the 2021-22 cricket season, a further $3 million should be deducted.

But Seven West Media is also reserving its rights, having raised concerns over the independence of the arbitrator, Venture Consulting chief executive Justin Jameson.

Both Seven and Cricket Australia are back in the Federal Court on Monday for preliminary discovery action relating to what Seven believes may be actionable Test Match and BBL quality failures by Cricket Australia.

Seven has argued a “prejudice paper” on the subject of free-to-air TV, streaming and sports rights from Venture Insights raises questions about independence.

Seven has a $450m rights deal with Cricket Australia.

7 Responses

  1. Quality failure by CA ? yeah right , when 10 and 9 was doing cricket I watched every match every ball, now did not even care cause 7 destroyed Summer of Cricket. law quality ideas like David Flaming having high tea in innings break, that was a joke.

  2. Professional sport in general was badly disrupted by the COVID pandemic, cricket fans should be grateful to have any cricket coverage at all, certainly CA would be in just as much financial strife as the NRL if no sports events were allowed during 2020-21, which initially was a strong possibility.
    The BBL had numbers of overseas star players waiting in quarantine so the extended season allowed them to eventually appear.

  3. Nine and Ten put in a deal for the cricket that violated CA’s rules because Nine didn’t like the way CA where trying to make them pay a fortune for everything, which CA rejected. Nine had put in a secret bid for $300m over 5 years for the Tennis. Seven thought that their relationship with TA, and what Mitchell said, meant that they would keep the tennis for hte lower price they were paying. Foxtel put in a bid of $1b for all the cricket, and the best that Seven could now do was offer $450m for the test and most of the BBL.

    CA then rearranged the season to suit India, because they needed the money from the tour and the tour of South Africa. But this meant that the top players in Australia and Australia B would not be able to play in the BBL. The BBL would remain a double round robin but would be more compact than the previous season. They also banned Australia Day promotions…

  4. The simple fact and catalyst in all of this was Tim Worner the then CEO who decided not to get the ODIs and T20 matches played in Australia.
    This contract expires in 2024 and unless they pull out they are basically stuck with it and to rub salt into open wounds channel 9 has the World Cup T20 this year and the 2023 Ashes from England in primetime as well I believe.
    So in closing the CEO made an error and also Cricket Aust can accept some blame for the destruction of what was a good BBL tournament only to be drawn out and now ruined.

    1. Agree – BBL has been ruined by dragging it out over 2 months. It worked much better as a tight 3-4 week tournament, where every match mattered. I also think it was a huge loss to not have ODI on free to air anymore under this deal. To be honest, ever since the cricket went to 7, I’ve watched significantly less cricket. I doubt I’m the only one.

  5. Seven got one of the most exciting Test series ever with India v Australia , but still the petulant ( and cash strapped probably more to the point ) Network is throwing its toys out of the playpen demanding “More!”.
    What would Seven do with the refunds from CA anyway, probably blow it all on more junk TV like Ultimate Tag and Holey Moley – hey how about Ultimate Branding now there’s a free tip.

Leave a Reply