SA CRICKET ON THE BRINK
Faces an uncertain future amid a changing landscape for the sport globally
There is massive pressure on the domestic game, but that is not just a problem in SA, it’s the same in Australia and England
Andrew Breetzke
SACA CEO
● South Africa’s cricketers are concerned about the future of the sport, with the player’s union believing local cricket is staring into the abyss amid a changing global landscape.
The SA Cricketers Association (SACA) welcomed the broad review that Cricket SA (CSA) is undertaking regarding the sustainability of the structure, but added that unless the political will exists to implement change, South African cricket faces an unknown future.
“Broadcast revenue has changed, sponsorship revenue has changed and that is affecting the way that Cricket SA does business,” said SACA CEO Andrew Breetzke.
“There is massive pressure on the domestic game, but that is not just a problem in SA, it’s the same in Australia and England.
“There needs to be the political will to actually change, or else cricket in SA cannot be sustained.”
CSA has appointed an eight-person task team — that includes SACA — to oversee the review process.
It is chaired by the organisation’s CFO, Tjaart van der Walt, and is scheduled to provide recommendations about the sport’s future by October at the earliest.
“We want it to be as broad as possible, we don’t want to influence it in any way, because we want those recommendations to be as honest a view as possible from within the system,” said CSA CEO Pholetsi Moseki.
Alongside the political will, Breetzke and Moseki both cited the urgency of the process. The reasons for CSA conducting the review is murkiness surrounding future revenues in the sport.
As it stands, the International Cricket Council (ICC), which oversees the sport globally, has concluded broadcast deals the principal revenue generator in the sport — until 2031. Beyond that no-one knows what cricket’s revenue streams will be.
CSA, like the ICC’s other affiliates, all benefited from an increased revenue share that resulted from the ICC’s current broadcast deal. CSA was paid about R490m as its share by the ICC, which in conjunction with the about R1.2bn from the tour by India last summer, will help sustain the game for the next three years.
But the long-term outlook is less certain. “Previously CSA could rely on income from bilateral series but unless it’s a tour by India, that is no longer the case. Globally, what broadcasters are willing to pay for is changing, we saw that with the IPL [Indian Premier League], which got around $6.5bn in its last deal,” said Breetzke.
The concern is that if the trend continues, and broadcasters are more willing to pay for T20 Leagues, that will put bilateral cricket in jeopardy.
CSA is affected in that the primary revenue generator of the sport in this country remains the Proteas men’s team. While the SA20, unexpectedly added to CSA’s coffers in its first year, with R34m, a figure that is expected to increase when CSA releases its annual financial statements in September following its AGM.
But the SA20’s impact will remain minimal given the overall landscape, which includes 15 provincial unions. Of those just three — Gauteng, Northerns and KwaZuluNatal — are profitable. The top eight Division 1 teams receive R30m-35m from CSA each year, while those in Division 2 get slightly less.
When CSA reverted to the 15 provincial team system three years ago, it was hoped that the provinces would be able to fund themselves through commercial deals with local entities — either small companies or partnerships with provincial governments.
The futility of that expectation was shown last season when KwaZulu-Natal Inland, which had forged a relationship with the provincial government, was unable to host matches at the Pietermaritzburg Oval after a function by the KwaZulu-Natal government damaged the outfield.
Though Australia runs a tight domestic system with just six state sides, it remains reliant on the Australian men’s team and the Big Bash League broadcast revenue to sustain it.
English cricket is facing a crisis of its own, with players stating that there are too many matches, while a number of county clubs, like many of SA’s provincial unions, are struggling financially.
The ECB is also looking to sell off The Hundred competition, hoping to generate more fees, in much the same way that CSA has handled the SA20.
“For us to think we can have the old-fashioned structure would be naive,” said Breetzke.