- Cricket Australia discussing the prospect at board level
- Similar to the Hundred franchise setup
- New South Wales and Queensland stalling the process
Cricket Australia are looking to sell stakes in the eight Big Bash League (BBL) clubs to private investors following a decision to formally explore private investment in July last year. However not everyone is happy with the decision.
What’s being sold?
Reports are that Cricket Australia (CA) would sell 49% stakes in six BBL teams. They are current champions Perth Scorchers, Brisbane Heat, Adelaide Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes, as well as one team from Melbourne and Sydney.
There are also reports that the other teams in Melbourne and Sydney, possibly the Renegades and the Thunder, will be sold entirely at 100%.
This is very similar to the way the Hundred was set up. Five teams sold 49% with the counties retaining the other 51%. One team sold half their stake, another team sold 70% and another sold 100%. However, that was only financial interest.
What could be included?
There are a number of other things that can be included in agreements with investors. Things like team names, colours, coaching and player control can all be included.
Other things team selection, schedules, broadcast, sponsorship and ticketing revenue. What is for sale could dictate the percentage that is available for each individual team. These things can be decided upon by the states and CA.
Where are we at now?
CA are looking to test the market by placing Melbourne Renegades, Perth Scorchers and Hobart Hurricanes on the open market to see what valuations they could yield. This is despite defiance from New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland stalling the process last week.
CA chief executive Todd Greenberg said that privatisation in “inevitable”. He said that the plan of putting all teams up for sale at the same time was not an option. Greenberg said that CA would look at alternative options. That would include moving some teams through to the next phase while others didn’t participate.
At this stage, it remains only a testing of the market with a formal selling process still a long way off.
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