Seven moves to ditch Cricket Australia contract
Seven is seeking to terminate its cricket broadcast deal, firing off a legal letter to Cricket Australia giving notice it will cancel the contract.
Seven West Media is seeking to terminate its cricket broadcast deal, firing off a legal letter to Cricket Australia giving notice it will cancel the contract and potentially leave the summer’s biggest sport without a television deal.
The Daily Telegraph reported Cricket Australia claimed the letter was not a termination letter, but Seven sources insist the move is not a tactic designed to renegotiate the expensive deal, but rather puts the network on the path to termination.
Seven is understood to have sent the letter to Cricket Australia this week after a dramatic escalation in tension between the sport and the broadcaster that started with the ‘Seven chief executive James Warburton lashing out at cricket officials last month.
Fox Sports and Seven are currently in the middle of a $1.18bn six-year broadcast contract. Fox Sports is also understood to be unhappy with the deal, and may take similar action to Seven.
Cricket Australia has stood firm against requests from its broadcasters for some sort of discount or rebate on the value of the deal, given COVID-19 has hit the television industry hard and the looming prospect of a weakened summer of cricket.
A mediation and arbitration process is likely to follow any exchanges of letters between Seven and Cricket Australia’s broadcasters.
Seven’s cricket deal was signed under the network’s former CEO Tim Worner, though chairman Kerry Stokes was also part of the negotiations.
Cricket Australia has maintained that it will deliver a full summer of cricket, including the Big Bash League, and that it was confident the cricket on offer would attract good broadcast numbers.
It has also defended the quality of cricket on offer over the coming summer, particularly in the Big Bash League domestic T20 competition.
Cricket’s executive general manager of fan engagement, Anthony Everard, said observers needed to “separate fact from fiction” regarding the BBL, which he claimed would still be an important part of the Australian summer despite two seasons of declining ratings.
Cricket Australia had planned to announce on Friday that KFC has won the battle to maintain its major sponsorship deal for the BBL, striking a three-year extension said to be worth more than $10m annually and fighting off competition from rival McDonald’s.
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