An expanded fixtures list and "continued ratings success for Channel Ten’s Big Bash League is set to spark an intense bidding war" that could see the next season of Twenty20 bring in more than A$60M ($45.4M) for Cricket Australia, according to Bingemann & Davidson of THE AUSTRALIAN. The season finale of the BBL wrapped up on Saturday with a national peak audience of 1.3 million Australians tuning in to watch the Perth Scorchers claim victory over the Sydney Sixers at a sold-out WACA Ground in Perth. In the five capital cities, the audience "failed to break into the top 10" due to "intense competition" for viewers from Seven’s Australian Open women’s singles final. Still, the BBL final capped off "another stunning season for the short-form game," with more than 1 million people attending 35 games at an average of 30,114 per match. With an expanded fixtures list, large crowd figures and an average TV audience of more than 1 million per game, advertisers and media buyers "believe the value of the BBL is now set to spark a bidding war" when Cricket Australia prepares to sell broadcast rights later this year. Dentsu Aegis Network CEO Simon Ryan said, "The ratings have still been very good even if they fell slightly. From an advertising perspective, when you talk about the cricket you are talking about category exclusivity, so a plus or minus 10 percent variance isn’t really a concern. What we clearly see here is that any negotiation for rights will be fruitful for the networks and advertisers because of the underpinning cult appeal of the sport." A "fierce bidding war between the networks" could raise the value of BBL rights from A$20M ($15.1M) to more than A$60M per year. Incredibly, observers "scoffed several years ago" when then-Ten CEO Hamish McLennan hailed Ten’s acquisition of the BBL as "the deal of the century." The competitive tension for the BBL rights "is set to ratchet up even more in the months ahead" as Nine, Seven, Fox Sports and Optus all "do the sums on how much they are prepared to spend on stealing Ten’s summer jewel" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 1/30).
EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS: In Brisbane, Robert Craddock reported CA will enter negotiations "armed with figures" confirming the BBL remains a ratings "juggernaut." When Ten signed up for the BBL it was predicted each game would rate around 500,000 but that figure "has been doubled," with average viewership of 1,021,750 per match this season. The BBL averaged 30,114 fans per match, with 20 of the 35 games being sellouts (COURIER-MAIL, 1/29). The BBC's Phil Mercer reported now into its sixth season, the fans love the BBL, "and next year's competition will expand from 32 to 40 matches." BBL Manager Anthony Everard said, "Importantly for us we had more people attending games of cricket (in Australia) last year than ever before in over the last 100 years. I think it was around 1.7 million people. Fans have obviously indicated there is great demand for this competition in the summertime and there is no reason why we can't grow at some stage in the future" (BBC, 1/27). The AFP reported CA said that the women's BBL, in its second season, also drew an "unprecedented level" of crowds and TV viewers and "encouraged more women and girls to play cricket." More than 100,000 people watched the women's games this season, with the highest attendance of 24,000 recorded for the Melbourne derby on New Year's Day (AFP, 1/28).
