The next Australian cricket media rights deal is all but confirmed for another couple of years (2024/25-2030/31) worth $1.4 billion ($210 million per year), with Fox Cricket & Seven staying on as the sport’s official broadcast partners.
They have both been home of the Australian Cricket summer since the 2018/19 season in place of Nine (Test & white-ball Internationals) & Ten (Big Bash & Women’s Big Bash) respectively after Nine walked away from Cricket following an illustrious four-decade stranglehold in favour of the Australian Open Tennis at the time, while Ten were thrown under the bus by CA also at the same time and then again during this next rights deal discussions in recent times.
There’s nothing much change out of this next agreement but only a few minor tweaks such as:
- Seven gaining some streaming rights & put it on their free 7Plus platform for the first time (beginning from 2024/25) with thanks to Fox – who currently holds all streaming access right now through their paid Kayo Sports product.
- The length of the Big Bash games being reduced to back to where it was until the 2017/18 season from 61 to 43 starting from the 2024/25 season (BBL14), with Seven airing the majority of the season (33 of 43 matches) while Fox gets to air every game including 10 exclusive games. Although, all three finals matches will be guaranteed to be simulcast on both Fox & Seven.
- Plus, the International white-ball games will not go anywhere exclusively on Fox.
- And Seven will drop the court case hoping that the Big Bash will improve in the same way Network 10 (previous rights holder) did in the past with just 40-43 matches.
Network 10/Paramount
First of all, it’s been another slap to the face to Paramount/Network 10 who tried their best despite putting in a really big offer of $1.5 billion over 6-7 years. It would’ve been great to see them sub-licence the Test matches to Nine or even Seven, while airing the rest (International white-ball games, Big Bash, Women’s Big Bash & domestic cricket) with a mix of 10 & on their paid Paramount + streaming platform.
But then they either wanted all or nothing without having to share with anyone by themselves. Unfortunately, an unproven streaming service that still lacks a pause/rewind feature & a free-to-air network that doesn’t have the audience & quality content to compete with Nine, Seven & even ABC after experiencing their worst ratings year in 2022, has put CA off by sticking with the incumbents. It’s a shame really but Paramount has gotta do something now in order to improve 10 or else they may put them up for sale in the long-run.
Nine Network
It would’ve also been great to see them return to at least airing Tests & even some BBL for the first time with Fox, having seen them discuss about forming a partnership again instead of Seven at one point.
Although they would like to have Tennis & Cricket all on the one summer, but then they would rather have the whole lot of whichever sports rights Nine picks up from now on – such as the Rugby Union & Olympic Games – by splitting some paid content via Stan Sport’s streaming platform while simulcasting some Free content across the screens of Nine & their free 9Now streaming product.
So they’re not missing much with cricket right now, especially when no one from their last commentary team cohort is currently popping up on Seven or Fox right now following the tragic death of Shane Warne (Fox) early last year.
Seven/Fox
Congratulations to Seven & Fox on retaining the rights for another seven seasons. Fox & Kayo Sports will continue to keep their customers onboard all-year round that begins with the summer of cricket followed by the winter AFL/NRL seasons and then back again. Plus, the way they deliver their innovative tech alongside the Ultra HD/4K pictures is top-notch as well which is not going away anytime soon.
And on Seven, they finally got what they wanted. Not only they will pay somewhat less ($65 million per annum) than the one they’re currently paying right now at $82 million per season, but they will also give the Big Bash another crack in exactly Network 10’s shoes with reduced games & seeing more star player availabilities that would hopefully get the value back up again like it once was before. Plus, viewers who don’t have a subscription can finally be allowed to stream games for the first time on 7Plus from 2024/25 onwards, which is another factor Seven is benefitting out of this next deal.
Although Seven is happy broadcasting Tests which reflects a really good commentary crew, it remains to see if the quality of the Big Bash product improves again. If not, expect another court battle by trying to get out of jail with a possibility of terminating the contract before Foxtel may look to Nine or even ABC or SBS to step up in their place.
