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Cricket Australia has not yet done enough to convince two crucial stakeholders of the merits of selling stakes in Big Bash League franchises, leaving the future of the T20 league up in the air.
Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon expressed his opposition to the proposal on Wednesday morning and confirmed the Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers would not be involved in a process of valuing the clubs being run by CA.
Later on Wednesday, CA chief executive Todd Greenberg said the process remains ongoing.
“We are receiving responses from states to our proposal on private investment in BBL clubs and remain open to discussing any questions or concerns about this model,” he said.
“This process remains respectful and collaborative and with the best interests of Australian cricket the key consideration of all involved.”
CA is looking to follow the footsteps of The Hundred in the UK, and open the BBL franchises – currently operated by the six Australian state associations – to private investment.
The ECB’s auction for The Hundred franchises last year raised £520m (roughly $1bn) amid a global surge of money flowing into franchise cricket led by the success of the Indian Premier League.
There is also increasing competition for the BBL from upstart leagues in South Africa and the UAE, which compete for players and interest during Australia’s traditional summer window.
Under CA’s proposal, up to 49% of each state’s franchise could be sold to private owners, with valuations of up to $200m per team.
Part of the windfall would return to states through an initial cash injection, with more flowing as annual payments.
In addition to investing in the BBL, CA would also look to develop a future fund with the proceeds.
Germon said his organisation was not convinced by the proposal.
“Our biggest fear is the external investment coming into a cricket ecosystem, which is working very effectively and very well now,” he said.
“We see some risks here, which Cricket Australia share, by the way.
“I think we all understand that one of the risks in bringing that [investment] 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.”
Cricket Queensland chief executive Terry Svenson said after a board meeting on Tuesday night that “no final decision” had been made.
“Good discussion though,” he said. “[We are] seeking some further clarity from CA this week on a couple of points which will help us make a final decision.”
Cricket NSW is more resistant to the proposal, and has developed an alternative strategy it hopes will win support from other stakeholders.
Its plan would not involve selling stakes in the franchises, but rather seek to increase investment in the BBL by raising revenue in other areas, including returns from wagering partners.
Germon said on Wednesday the strategy involves more than just increases in gambling revenue.
“There’s a number of lines there. So it’s ticket yield, it’s attendance, it’s commercial sponsorship, it’s a number of different items there,” he said.
“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.”
Asked by reporters on Wednesday whether there should be concerns about the prospect of increasing the sport’s reliance on gambling, Germon said wagering revenue was already part of cricket.
“[Wagering] is one of many that we’ve identified and highlighted. Now, many of those may be ruled out, many of them may be amplified in terms of importance, and that’s the process we now need to go through taking those sorts of things into account.”
