New Zealand Cricket "has pocketed the biggest payday in New Zealand sport with broadcast rights from this year's Indian tour understood to be worth in excess" of NZ$35M ($28M), according to Simon Plumb of FAIRFAX NZ NEWS.
And in a new twist to the controversial "big three" takeover of the Int'l Cricket Council by India, England and Australia in Dubai last week, NZC CEO David White "emphatically rejected any suggestion the lucrative Indian tours will soon dry up," instead hinting a scheduled visit by them in '19 would be confirmed within a matter of weeks along with tours by "all the big countries."
White confirmed that broadcast rights for the present Indian tour "were worth more than the then record" NZ$25M that NZC banked from the Indians' last visit in '09. He "would not provide a figure" but "knowledgeable sources" said that it is more than NZ$35M. The deal is part of an eight-year int'l broadcast contract between NZ Cricket and global sports marketing agency Pitch Int'l, struck in '12 and "set to cover two Indian tours" -- the current '14 visit and a return in '19 which was scheduled under the ICC's Future Tours Programme.
But New Zealand's "apparent support of the Indian-led ICC takeover now looks to have been a bargaining chip designed to secure a 2019 touring commitment along with bi-lateral agreements with Australia and England to visit here" (FAIRFAX NZ NEWS, 2/2).
