New South Wales urges Cricket Australia to halt Big Bash League privatisation push
NSW and Queensland have informed CA that they are not ready to approve the proposed privatisation of the BBL, placing the board in a difficult position over whether to move forward without support.
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New South Wales and Queensland have informed Cricket Australia that they are not ready to approve the proposed privatisation of the Big Bash League, placing the board in a difficult position over whether to move forward without unanimous state support.
Cricket Australia had set a deadline for all states to respond on whether they would back the next phase of the process, which includes obtaining official valuations for the BBL franchises. The potential financial upside is significant, with earlier estimates suggesting that full privatisation of the league could generate between AU$600 million and AU$800 million.
However, both New South Wales and Queensland have held back from giving their approval at this stage. Reports indicate that the two states are seeking further clarification on several aspects of the proposal before making a final decision. Despite this, NSW chief executive Lee Germon has reiterated that they remain committed to the growth and success of the BBL.
"Our position is that we still do not believe that the sale of the BBL clubs is the right approach here. What I would like to reiterate is that we are in fierce agreement with Cricket Australia that we need to invest in the BBL, that we need to grow the BBL, we need to have our best players play in the BBL and in a window that allows that,” Germon said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
"We believe there's another way of doing that through some self-funding mechanisms and over the last three to four weeks, we've been able to work on that alternative strategy. We shared that with Cricket Australia and the other states yesterday, so we would hope that that now forms a discussion in terms of an alternative strategy,” he added.
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Germon has urged CA to pause its current push towards privatisation of the BBL, or at the very least consider running parallel assessments of alternative models. NSW believes there are significant revenue opportunities in areas such as ticketing, sponsorship, and wagering and betting. However, the latter remains a potentially controversial avenue, especially in light of the Australian Government’s recent announcements regarding gambling reforms.
"Some will be more palatable than others, some will be more achievable than others, but we believe that they need to be looked at in terms of providing an opportunity to fund our way through this, to develop the BBL without going straight to selling our clubs," Germon said.
"Our biggest fear is external investment coming into a cricket ecosystem, which is working very effectively and very well now, in terms of adding more voices to how our cricket is run and how our players are produced. So we see some risks here, which Cricket Australia share, by the way, I think we all understand this, that one of the risks in bringing that is that you suddenly open up the involvement of external investors who will not have aligned goals with the states or Cricket Australia in terms of how they want the game to be run,” he added.
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An added dimension to NSW’s stance is that it places them in direct opposition to Mike Baird, the CA chair, who is a strong supporter of privatisation and also represents NSW on the CA board. Meanwhile, NSW chair John Knox is a partner and local head of Ares Management, which holds a 49% stake in Trent Rockets in The Hundred and has board representation within the franchise.
During last month’s meeting between CA and the states, which led to the current deadline, it was revealed that there is an option to proceed with privatisation of the BBL without unanimous agreement from all states.
"I think a mixed model would add complication to a cricket ecosystem, as I think external ownership would add complication to the cricket ecosystem as well. And just bearing in mind the BBL, it's not just a commercial product. It's a product that has its own place and a really important place in our cricket family and ecosystem,” said Germon.
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Meanwhile, Germon indicated there is potential for Sydney Thunder to be among the teams involved if the BBL takes its opening game next season to Chennai. The Thunder had earlier signed Ravichandran Ashwin for last season, but he was ruled out due to injury.
"I think 50% of our Sydney Thunder fans also follow the Chennai Super Kings. So that would give you an indication as to how we might think about that. I think it's a wonderful opportunity, a chance to do it, but we're also aware that it needs to stack up in a number of areas, around not only commercial but around fan engagement. Would it mean we take a game away from here? We don't know, but we certainly applaud Cricket Australia and their vision to do that,” Germon concluded.
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