Paramount could bat for cricket, remains bullish on sports rights

Paramount’s executive vice-president and chief content officer Beverley McGarvey has signalled the streaming and television network will continue its bullish attempts to secure major broadcast rights despite missing out on an AFL deal to boost its local sports offering.

The US entertainment company, which owns Network Ten, is preparing to take back the Big Bash League and may make a play for Test cricket to secure sport for its summer schedule.

In perhaps the clearest sign of its ambitions, Cricket Australia’s executive general manager of broadcast and commercial, Stephanie Beltrame, was seen at the television and streaming company’s annual television upfront last week.

CA is in early talks with broadcasters about its new broadcast deal.Credit: AP

“We are full service, we are multi-genre,” McGarvey said when asked whether Paramount’s sports strategy has changed after AFL talks. “All the AFL did was indicate to the market that we do have the investment capability. We are serious about making tactical decisions across a range of content and that really hasn’t changed.”

McGarvey did not specify Paramount’s interest in cricket or the BBL, but Paramount sources have confirmed they are interested.

Other media sources, who requested anonymity to speak about commercial discussions, said Cricket Australia has started conversations with alternative broadcast partners, including Nine Entertainment Co, owner of this masthead, and Paramount, which owns Network Ten, about securing a new deal.

Its current arrangement with Seven West Media and News Corp controlled-Foxtel ends after the 2023/2024 season. CA, Nine and Paramount declined to comment.

The talks are in the early stages, the sources said, but are going ahead despite an impeding court case between Cricket Australia and Seven, which is seeking millions of dollars in compensation over claims CA failed to meet contractual obligations.

Seven is hoping to save more than $135 million by proving in the Federal Court that CA breached its Big Bash League broadcast rights contract by reducing the quality and standards of the Big Bash League, which has continued to trend down in ratings since Seven acquired the rights in 2018.

By comparison, Test cricket’s audience share has grown by 45 per cent over the past four years.

Media sources said Paramount will review all broadcast rights, including Test matches and BBL, while Nine, which also bid for the AFL, is eager to secure Test matches. The rights to Australian Test matches are expected to be fiercely contested due to the performance of the cricket team and large audience figures it generates. Nine and Ten locally have existing relationships with CA as the former rights holders, but globally Paramount has ties to cricket through Viacom Network in India. CA declined to comment.

The AFL landed a $4.5 billion, seven-year broadcast deal with incumbents Seven and Foxtel in early September which gives the networks television rights to AFL and AFLW matches until 2031. But the pair were forced to pay significantly more than expected, upping their bid after Paramount’s offered $6 billion over 10 years. Paramount announced a five-year, $200 million deal for all A-League and W-League matches last May, before securing a deal to broadcast the Matildas and Socceroos matches in June.

Paramount’s final offer to the AFL is indicative of how much it might be willing to pay for sport it considers tier one. Paramount’s free-to-air television Network Ten was previously the broadcaster of the BBL but lost out to Seven during the last round of rights negotiations. When Ten had the rights, the BBL tournament averaged between 600,000 and 759,000 viewers. The average audience on free-to-air television has fallen significantly since then.

CA chairman Lachlan Henderson said last month the sport was undervalued in the Australian broadcast market and the rise of streaming services as major rights players should lift the game’s saleability. A lucrative deal is crucial to ensuring CA can keep pace with overseas Twenty20 leagues. It will be forced to consider private ownership models to raise extra capital if it does not increase the money from a new deal.

CA secured a fee of more than $350 million for the broadcast of Australian cricket into India earlier this year, and the ICC recently sold the India rights to global tournaments for almost $5 billion.

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