In what might come in as a shock to Cricket Australia, Channel Seven in all likelihood might terminate its deal of AUD 450 million (INR 2400 crore) with the board.
The channel has sent a legal letter earlier this week alleging that the board has breached the contract. Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has denied claims of receiving any such termination letter.
Channel Seven is predicting that the 2020-21 season of the Big Bash League (BBL) won’t be as profitable as the earlier years with many of the Australian superstars will wither be committed to international duty or will be unavailable due to quarantine protocols.
Channel Seven terminate deal with Cricket Australia
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia (CA) believes as long as they are giving the broadcasters a full summer of cricketing action, they are maintaining the conditions of the contract.
“Cricket Australia remains in ongoing discussions with the Seven Network about delivering a compelling summer of cricket. CA is committed to fulfilling its contractual obligations to all its partners this season” CA said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported that the channel will not make its next payment of $25m, which is due on Tuesday. Moreover, the newspaper reports that the channel is unhappy with the new schedule charted out for India’s tour of Australia 2020, which saw Cricket Australia ‘bow down’ to arguably the richest cricket board a the moment, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Also Read: IPL 2020: England and Australia Players Of KKR Will Be Available From The First Match
The reports came out just after last week’s discussion between Seven chief executive James Warburton and CA boss Nick Hockley in Sydney. Mainly the broadcaster reasoned two factors behind its decision to terminate the contract with the board.
Firstly, since the BBL 2020-21 will not have all its Australian superstars available and secondly how the cricketing schedule for the summer has been set up. It will be interesting to see how things fold up in the coming days.
