India’s tour to Australia in November and December is in serious jeopardy after Seven West Media, the official broadcast partners, is seeking to cancel the deal with Cricket Australia.
India’s tour to Australia which is expected to begin from November is in serious trouble. The reason – Seven West Media, who own the broadcast rights of the international cricket season in Australia along with Foxtel, has reportedly started cancelling it’s contract with Cricket Australia. Seven West Media is like Star Sports of India or Sky Sports of England, where they are the principal broadcasters of international cricket matches. Seven West Media has a six-year broadcast deal worth USD 1.19 billion and Australian media have said that they will not make the initial payment of AUD 25 million.
In 2018, Cricket Australia awarded the broadcast rights to Seven West Media and Foxtel after ending a near four-decade association with Channel Nine. What are the reasons for Seven West Media going ahead with their cancellation of the deal with Cricket Australia?
Revamped calendar and lack of international stars
Seven West Media are unhappy that the international calendar has been flipped, with the ODIs and T20Is expected to be played ahead of the four Tests. Seven West Media believe that the revamp has been brought about by Cricket Australia bowing down to the demands of the BCCI. The delay in IPL 2020, which is expected to end on November 10 and the ensuing stand-off over the length of the quarantine period that the Indian team will have to undergo is also one of the major factors.
Seven West Media are also miffed that there will not be much of international stars in the Big Bash League due to the coronavirus situation in the country and also because of travel restrictions.
What does this mean for Cricket Australia? Due to the coronavirus pandemic, they have had to layoff close to 80 percent of their staff. With this latest move, Cricket Australia would go bankrupt and would not have any money to produce the series. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the international matches in Australia might not be having Free-to-Air services for live cricket for the first time. The fact that it will be on the lines of a paid subscription has made Seven West Media very unhappy.
There is no clarity as to how the schedule of the India vs Australia series will pan out. Whether the matches will be played in only one or two cities due to the coronavirus outbreak, whether Melbourne will be able to host the traditional Boxing Day Test as it is a COVID hotspot is still under debate. This latest move by Seven West Media could be the biggest blow that cricket sees, which is already reeling with South Africa almost on the brink of a ban after the Cricket Board was taken over by the government.
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