Champions League T20 set to return, timeline for tournament finalised

The men’s Twenty20 Champions League is set to be relaunched as early as September next year, following strong backing from key member nations during the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) annual conference in Singapore.

At the same meeting, the future of Test cricket came under renewed focus, with a potential restructure, including a two-division system possibly being finalised by the end of the year. The ICC has now formalised a working group tasked with reshaping the global cricket calendar from 2027 onwards, according to two sources familiar with the confidential discussions.

There is growing speculation that the number of Test-playing nations could be capped, as only a handful of countries currently generate considerable revenue from the longest format. Many boards reportedly lack the infrastructure and financial resources needed to sustain competitive Test sides, prompting conversations around a more streamlined and financially viable Test structure.

The ICC calendar working group will comprise eight members, including Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg, England and Wales Cricket Board CEO Richard Gould, and the ICC’s newly appointed chief executive Sanjog Gupta. The group will be expected to present interim findings and recommendations to the ICC board, which is now chaired by Jay Shah, before the end of 2025.

Gupta, previously head of sport at JioHotstar, was also involved in the recent players’ body report examining the global cricket calendar. Gupta has publicly acknowledged that market forces are likely to play a major role in determining the future volume and structure of Test and international cricket, suggesting a more demand-driven model could emerge.

“You have to make hard choices. And there are very clear indicators of what fans want. There is enough data to suggest what direction the game is going in,” Gupta said on the MCC’s World Cricket Connects panel at Lord’s in 2023.

“If you continue to serve a product that no one wants, one – that product will continue to suffer; and, two – the ecosystem around the product will continue to suffer. Blackberry disappeared at some point. It was a device that all of us had, it was a device that all of us were in the bait of using, then it disappeared, and it was replaced by another product,” he added.

The original T20 Champions League was launched in 2008 and continued until 2014. It was discontinued after ESPN Star, the then-broadcast partner, chose to cut its losses, having paid an inflated rights fee of approximately $1 billion. This investment came in the wake of the broadcaster missing out on early rights to the Indian Premier League.

The league was a joint effort between Cricket Australia, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and Cricket South Africa. Interestingly, the revenue from ESPN Star’s deal helped provide the seed funding for the Big Bash League in its early years before it became a commercially successful competition by 2013.

Since then, the T20 franchise landscape has grown rapidly. Players now often participate in two to five different leagues each year, which raises important questions about player availability and team loyalty in a new Champions League structure. One of the key challenges facing the tournament’s revival will be determining which clubs players will choose to represent when they are affiliated with multiple franchises across different competitions.

The financial model for the revamped T20 Champions League has not yet been finalised. In parallel, there has been ongoing lobbying for a global T20 circuit funded by Saudi Arabia. While no concrete decision has been made, Saudi Arabia is also being considered as a potential host for the Champions League in the future.

Meanwhile, the ICC board approved a qualification pathway for the cricket tournament at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where six men’s and six women’s teams will participate. However, concerns remain around the governance of USA Cricket, which has been given a three-month deadline to meet several compliance benchmarks. If those terms are not met, the ICC will take over direct responsibility for running the Olympic events.

The ICC also approved a new funding model for the refugee Afghanistan women’s cricket team. Under this plan, approximately $1 million will be allocated annually to support the team, with the goal of helping them compete in international qualifiers and global tournaments.