Pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports is looking to make a play for the next round of cricket rights, even indicating they would be willing to partner with international rights holder Channel Nine.
The Australian Financial Review is reporting that Fox Sports want to regain some Australian cricket properties, starting from the 2017-18 season, after losing the rights to the Big Bash League in 2013 to Network Ten.
The newspaper further reports that Fox Sports would be prepared to enter into a simulcast arrangement with Nine and could even launch a dedicated cricket channel to enhance the sport’s coverage.
Some of this is dependent on Nine being able to win the BBL rights from Network Ten who will fight hard to retain the rights having had massive success with the competition. Nine currently has the rights to test matches and international limited-over games which is on the federal government’s anti-siphoning list.
The asking price Cricket Australia will reportedly ask from broadcasters for all cricket properties is $200 million annually, with the price including all streaming rights.
The formal bidding process for broadcast rights is expected to start later this year at the earliest.
Source: Australian Financial Review
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