‘There is another way’: Queensland joins NSW revolt over Big Bash sale plans

Queensland will join NSW in pressing the pause button on Cricket Australia’s plans to sell stakes in Big Bash League clubs, leaving the governing body without nationwide consensus on the float.

Following a board meeting on Tuesday night, Queensland Cricket has confirmed to this masthead that it will be seeking further clarity from CA about plans for the partial sale of clubs.

Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon followed up on Wednesday by explaining that his state wanted to pause the process until all parties agreed, and give time for alternative paths to be explored.

CA had set Wednesday as a deadline for states to indicate whether they were keen to proceed with the sale.

“The fact that we’re saying we are not in at the moment means that we also do not want to be part of going to market for a valuation of our clubs,” Germon said.

“I also respect the sovereignty and the decision-making of other states. It needs to be worked through whether you can pause it, stop it totally, or do a concurrent process. It remains to be seen.

“Our position is that we still do not believe the sale of the BBL clubs is the right approach here.

“What I’d like to reiterate is we are in fierce agreement with Cricket Australia that we need to invest in the BBL and grow it. We need to have our best players playing the BBL in a window that allows that.

“We believe there is another way of doing that through other funding mechanisms and over the last three to four weeks we’ve been able to work on that alternative strategy. We shared that with Cricket Australia and the states yesterday. We would hope that now forms a discussion in terms of an alternative strategy.”

NSW and Queensland have formed the view that, while private investment in the BBL may be a good idea in the future, they are unconvinced that it needs to happen immediately.

Instead, their preference is for further work to be done on the fundamentals of any sale plan, while also encouraging CA to grow more value in the league and in cricket as a whole.

NSW and Queensland are both open to finding different ways of raising more commercial revenue without selling stakes in clubs, including the pursuit of higher product fees from wagering companies.

“It’s a range of revenue within the Cricket Australia … that we think offer opportunity to increase revenue to fund a reset or an improvement of the BBL over the next three to four years,” Germon said.

There’s a number of lines there, so it’s ticket yield, it’s attendance, it’s commercial sponsorship, it’s a number of different items there. Some will be more palatable than others, some will be more achievable than others.

“But we believe that they need to be looked at in terms of providing an opportunity to fund our way through this, to develop the BBL without going straight to selling our clubs.”

Germon said that the state’s most significant reservations about BBL club sales related to the loss of control of a finely balanced cricket system in Australia.

“Our biggest fear is the external investment coming into a cricket ecosystem which is working very effectively and very well now in terms of adding more voices to how our cricket is run and our players are produced,” he said.

“We see some risks here, which Cricket Australia share by the way. You suddenly open up the involvement of external investors who will not have aligned goals with the states or Cricket Australia in terms of how they want the game to be run.”

CA has previously indicated that it will be possible for the sale process to proceed without the agreement of all states. The next step will involve seeking valuations for clubs – finding out how much money may be raised by their sale.

More to come

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