Seven West Media hits Cricket Australia TV discount bid for six

Seven West Media has rebuffed a last-minute bid by Cricket Australia to salvage the sport’s lucrative television deal.

Seven insists the cash discount tabled by Cricket Australia does not reflect the extent of the network’s predicted financial losses. Picture: Michael Klein

Seven West Media has rebuffed a last-minute bid by Cricket Australia to salvage the sport’s lucrative television deal, with the broadcaster insisting the cash discount tabled by CA — in recognition of the looming season’s weakened schedule — does not reflect the extent of the network’s predicted financial losses.

It is understood that last week CA offered Seven a discount “in the vicinity of 20 per cent” on its annual fee of $75m, but the network deemed that the estimated $15m cash reduction “wasn’t nearly enough” given the “unacceptable adjustments” to this summer’s cricket program.

Fox Sports, which shares the television cricket broadcasting rights with Seven, is believed to have been offered a similar compensation deal by CA, but its negotiations with the sport’s governing body are said to be “positive”.

The bitter wrangling over the disputed broadcasting deal now looks headed for a meeting before the Australian Chamber for International and Commercial Arbitration on Tuesday, when CA bosses could face off against executives from Seven. Representatives from Fox Sports have also been invited to attend.

The networks — which are party to a combined six-year $1.18bn contract to broadcast cricket — are expected to push for “significant adjustments” on the existing agreement, which expires in 2024.

CA declined to comment on the ongoing negotiations, citing commercial-in-confidence.

If the arbitration meeting goes ahead on Tuesday, it is likely that an independent expert will be called upon to offer an assessment of the value of the broadcast deal.

Seven — whose share of the six-year deal is $450m, comprising an annual cash fee of $75 million — has previously expressed its unhappiness about the lack of top players for the coming season’s Big Bash League. One network executive told The Australian there had been a “clear failure to deliver on quality” on the part of CA, which ignored recommendations that high-profile local stars were central to the future success of the BBL.

But a CA spokesman said the governing body’s decision to scrap the three one-day international fixtures against New Zealand toward the end of the summer would “free up” Australia’s elite players to compete in the BBL. Seven is also aggrieved by the prospect of a later than expected start to the Australia-India Test series, with is unlikely to start before mid-December.

Fox Sports is believed to be primarily concerned by CA’s plans to stage the BBL in hubs, with matches played at neutral venues, due to COVID-19.

CA has insisted that such a scenario would still produce a “world-class product”, but a Fox Sports insider said: “Without the sense of tribalism at the grounds, it’s not going to have the same level of excitement.”

Last week, Seven made a surprise $10m payment to CA to ensure it was in a strong bargaining position before Tuesday’s arbitration meeting. The cash instalment — which scotched any counterclaims by CA of a breach of contract — came a fortnight after the network chose to only part-pay its outstanding annual fee, in what was seen as a statement that the existing broadcast deal was wildly overpriced given the shortcomings of the COVID-19-hit summer.

The push for a revised agreement on TV cricket coverage comes after the commercial broadcasters of both the AFL and NRL secured revised deals.