Global League may not bowl everyone over initially

If anybody had any doubt about the potential monetary value of Cricket SA’s new T20 Global League they may have been interested to note on Monday that the five-year broadcast rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) were sold for $2.55bn.

The initial 10-year rights period was sold for $1.65bn so the new owners, Star India, clearly felt that a 50% increase in cash for half the time was still good business.

A Duff and Phelps valuation this year put the IPL’s total worth at $5.3bn, up from $4.2bn in 2016.

It took a few years to get the IPL ball rolling and there have been casualties along the way, but it would appear to have unstoppable momentum now, a sporting behemoth which comes in at third place behind the NFL in the US and the English Premier League in which each fixture comes in at a net value of $23.43m and $13.15m respectively. IPL matches will now average out at a value of $8.92m.

The Caribbean and Bangladesh premier leagues also had significant teething problems in making the financial wheels turn.

Team owners put down deposits – as they have in the Global League – and they have provided “guarantees” but they are depending on revenue to start flowing before they make further payments. They may be cricket fans but they are businessmen first.

It cost roughly a tenth of the cost of an IPL franchise to enter the Global League ($30m as opposed to $300m) but Cricket SA would be ecstatic if it grew at the same rate as the IPL or generated a tenth of its income.

At this stage, less than two months before the first match, it is impossible to forecast what might happen because the income stream mechanism is still not in place. The rights have not been sold yet.

The International Management Group has always handled the selling and bidding of Cricket SA’s rights, but in the case of the Global League, it has looked elsewhere and appointed a different but certainly qualified and capable company called Lagardère.

But then things took a peculiar turn. Senior employee Venu Nair left Lagardère and, along with his favourite pot plant and pencil sharpener, “took” the rights to the Global League with him.

He formed his own company, Ortus Sport & Entertainment, and started looking for bidders on behalf of Cricket SA. The commission on the deal has not been disclosed but it’s very hard to imagine it not bringing a tear to the eye of the average cricket fan.

When SuperSport bought the rights to all South African cricket some years ago, it assumed that “all” meant “all” when the Global League was launched. Having just confirmed a loss of R160m for the last financial year, and committed itself to vast expenditure launching the Global League, Cricket SA is intent on maximising its resource. The two parties started a very long way apart.

It is a classic chicken-andegg scenario. Whereas Cricket SA points to the success of the IPL, the Caribbean Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash League as proof of what it will soon have, SuperSport and other potential rights holders and broadcasters point to the harsh truth: at this stage there is no actual product and there are no guarantees in sport.

Risk assessors will point to the fact that people have not watched cricket in meaningful numbers in Bloemfontein for 25 years, why now?

Two teams – Durban Qalandars and Benoni Zalmi – are proudly, even ostentatiously Pakistani. Will that work – especially in Durban? Will the notoriously cliquey Capetonians take to a truly ostentatiously, glamorous Indian team?

Whereas other leagues were forced to do the hard early years and endure the financial bumps and bruises on the road to establishment and stability, Cricket SA may be a little too keen to skip straight to the part where it gets paid “top dollar”.

There are 144 players with contracts hoping to be paid and literally thousands of other people relying on the Global League starting efficiently and becoming successful.

To do that, it needs not just to be televised locally, but televised as far and as wide as possible. As any global league should. The clock is ticking … loudly.

SUPERSPORT AND OTHER POTENTIAL RIGHTS HOLDERS AND BROADCASTERS POINT TO THE HARSH TRUTH: AT THIS STAGE THERE IS NO ACTUAL PRODUCT AND THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES IN SPORT