New television deal for Big Bash Leagues could include Christmas Day fixture
THE looming cricket Television rights negotiation will discuss the possibility of playing Big Bash fixtures on Christmas Day.
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The looming cricket TV rights negotiation will not only decide which network covers the Big Bash League (BBL) and Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) but also whether the BBL will feature Christmas Day games in the future.
Cricket Australia is working in conjunction with the ACA on the concept of playing Big Bash cricket on Christmas Day and it is in the early stages of discussion and exploration.
New BBL boss Kim McConnnie speaking before the summer to the Cricket Unfiltered Podcast said, “I think it’s an opportunity as we look to expand the BBL and the WBBL, and if I think about what I have seen in the States with the NBA, the NBA Christmas Day is a phenomenal success.”
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The NBA plays a series of games on Christmas Day every year and they get some of the highest rated viewing figures that they receive all year.
That could be replicated in Australia and could kick start a new Christmas Day tradition.
Imagine how this could work?
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All the presents have been opened, the turkey has been decimated and all that remains are a few crumbs of Christmas pudding.
The afternoon turns into early evening and you turn on the TV and instead of seeing a repeat of ‘Mean Girls’ you see two of Australia’s biggest sporting franchises about to battle it out for a ‘Jingle Bash’ extravaganza.
Someone yells out to the kids in the backyard to ‘come inside’ and to the dozy relatives on the couch to ‘wake up’ because the BBL is about to start.
No more tired movie repeats but instead Christmas night is saved by the Big Bash League which is built on appealing to families and people of all ages.
There is a problem. Most players that I have spoken to are opposed to the idea of playing cricket on Christmas Day.
Speaking on Newscorp’s Cricket Unfiltered Podcast Perth Scorchers and Australian T20 star Jason Behrendorff said that “Christmas Day is a special day that you can spend with your family and enjoy whatever it is you want to do and I think we have enough days in the year to play cricket that we don’t need to play on Christmas Day”.
Recently discarded Test opener Matt Renshaw is one of many players I have spoken to that agrees “I’m not a fan of it, personally I think Christmas Day should be a family sort of day and you want to give people a day off Christmas Day and obviously you’ve got the Boxing Day Test and now Boxing Day BBL so there is probably enough cricket going around that time to give all the players a nice day off on Christmas Day that is well deserved.”
Brisbane Heat player Ben Cutting spoke about the realities for a player who has to play during this period: “I think if it happens it would have to be one of the derbies, either in Melbourne or Sydney, because you don’t want to drag guys away from their families to fly interstate for one of those games, I remember a couple of years ago we played on Boxing Day in Perth and we flew out on Christmas Day late in the afternoon and there wasn’t enough time to prepare for the game properly travelling so far and trying to spend time with your family”.
I did find one player who is behind the concept, Sydney Thunder opener Kurtis Patterson “I like it, I am a huge NBA fan and I know that their Christmas Day games are massive”.
The main benefit to the BBL being played on Christmas Day is that cricket would have a huge captive audience with little or no competition for viewers.
Cricket is played all year but this would be the one day where it would be the only show in town.
The game itself could achieve large viewing figures and could attract new fans that don’t normally watch the BBL.
Most BBL games attract over 1 million TV viewers. I think it could double that on Christmas Day..
Herein lies the solution to convincing players to come on board: TV rights.
A showpiece game on Christmas Day would become a valuable commodity for TV networks and large sums of advertising dollars could flow into the coffers of Cricket Australia and the revenue share agreement which the players fought so hard for.
The players would benefit financially and cricket could put a significant stake in the ground.
With the TV rights negotiations for cricket set to kick off in earnest very soon here’s hoping that next year Santa delivers some Christmas Day Big Bash Cricket.
Originally published as New television deal for Big Bash Leagues could include Christmas Day fixture