Nine Entertainment-Ten Network revise Cricket Australia rights’ joint bid

Nine Entertainment and Network Ten have submitted a revised bid for Cricket Australia’s media rights.

The two broadcasters, with an understanding to share the Cricket Australia broadcast during the next six-year cycle, have reportedly made a collective offer of $900 million. The new bid will be valued at $150 million per annum.

The initial bid from Ten and Nine has been reported to be $130 million per annum. However, with the revised $900m bid, Cricket Australia will register around a 40% increase in the broadcast rights value, compared with its previous five-year deal.

Under the earlier five-year deal, $90 million a year was paid by Nine for international matches and Ten was paying $20 million for the Big Bash League.

For the $900 million joint bid proposal, Ten has reportedly agreed to retain the Big Bash League while Nine would keep only the Test matches and let the Twenty-20 Internationals and 50-over one-day internationals pass over to Ten. This means, Nine will be the bid partner for the Test matches, while Ten will contribute for the Big Bash, T20Is and ODIs values.

Media reports also suggest that Nine and Ten joint bid does not incorporate pay TV operator FoxTel, which wanted to simulcast the international cricket. A spokesperson for News Corp, which owns and operates FoxTel, is quoted as saying that “Fox Sports withdrew from negotiations with Cricket Australia on Friday morning due to a lack of material progress over the preceding week. Fox Sports has continued discussions with Cricket Australia over the weekend, however, there has been no reengagement of negotiations.”