Cricket Australia radio broadcast rights revealed with ABC and SEN to expand

Cricket Australia has announced a new seven-year agreement for radio broadcast rights in Australia, find out who to tune into.

Shannon Gill

@ShannonGill13

2 min read

July 26, 2024 - 2:41PM

Cricket Australia has locked in its radio partners for the next seven summers. Picture: Dylan Robinson

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The ABC will move towards a century of cricket, while SEN will expand its coverage by adding WBBL matches to its offering as Cricket Australia announced a seven year extension to its radio rights.

The seven year term mirrors what is believed to be the imminent announcement of the next seven years of summer schedules for Test cricket by Cricket Australia.

Radio may not attract the eye-watering dollar figures of television, but cricket’s traditional place as the soundtrack to summer means the radio rights have an emotional pull unlike any other sport.

Incumbents rights holders ABC, SEN and Triple M (Southern Cross Austereo) will continue to cover cricket in Australia from 2024-25 to 2030-2031.

The last rights deal also included Macquarie Radio, now Nine Radio, however it opted out of the deal in 2020 after just two seasons. At the time they held exclusive BBL rights, which were passed on to SEN for the remainder of the deal.

It is believed Nine Radio were part of discussions for this term but ultimately couldn’t come to an agreement with Cricket Australia.

The end of the deal in 2030-31 season will see the ABC come tantalisingly close to a major milestone to warm the heart of traditionalists.

“The ABC is synonymous with cricket, it has always been the soundtrack of summer and now all Australians will be able to hear every ball, across multiple platforms, commercial free,” said Head of Sport Mike Fitzpatrick.

“This new agreement takes us to our 99th (not out) year of broadcasting cricket on the ABC.”

ABC radio cricket commentator Jim Maxwell.

The ABC will join SEN in broadcasting the BBL from this season, while SEN has increased its commitment to the women’s side of the game by picking up WBBL rights. It’s unclear how much of the season they will broadcast.

“Our audiences love cricket, and we are excited to bring them every thrilling moment of the game,” SEN CEO Craig Hutchison said.

While it does not have the economic impact of a television deal, that three networks remain committed to the sport and will expand their coverage in a challenging media market is an encouraging sign for Cricket Australia in keeping its position as summer’s most consumed sport.

“Cricket is the sound of summer and we are fortunate to have partners who will provide such knowledgeable and passionate coverage of huge events including the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Women’s and Men’s Ashes and the Big Bash Leagues across their stations and digital platforms,” said Kate Ingber form Cricket Australia.