When Seven West Media hosted a cocktail party to ring in the summer of cricket and no Cricket Australia execs were there,the broadcast rights looked like Seven’s to lose. But rival bidders Ten-Paramount blinked.
Rival broadcaster Paramount has declared its values were “not aligned” with CA as Foxtel and Seven revealed a new seven-year deal.
Sports administrators say easing anti-siphoning rules would increase investment in women’s games,but it could also result in Australians paying for their favourite sports.
Foxtel,News Corp and Seven are closing in on a status quo broadcast rights deal with Cricket Australia under which highest bidder Paramount would be left out in the cold.
Seven West Media reached out to Paramount to discuss the prospect of sharing Test matches after News Corp approached Nine about a similar deal.
Media sources,who spoke anonymously because the talks are confidential,said two bids were submitted before the deadline on Wednesday evening.
Private equity may be the beneficiary of a cricket broadcast deal set to provide the smallest rights uplift for the game in more than 30 years.
Former Foxtel boss Richard Freudenstein has not been asked to recuse himself from his leading role in Cricket Australia broadcast rights talks despite still being a paid director of a News Corp company.
Play between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City was abandoned after fans stormed the pitch,with goalkeeper Tom Glover bloodied in the chaos.
As the backlash to the APL’s deal to hold grand finals in Sydney until 2025 continues,A-League clubs have begun pointing to “commercial realities” as the primary reason why the deciders had to be sold.
With final bids due on Thursday afternoon,US film studio giant Paramount is leading the race for cricket rights with its offer significantly ahead of Seven and Foxtel.