Paramount offered $6 billion over 10 years for the AFL rights and missed out, leaving Channel Ten without a major sport.
Nine Entertainment Co (owners of this masthead) remains interested in cricket but recently recommitted to tennis with a $425 million deal.
Strong crowds seen in the T20 World Cup will not be repeated for the one-day series between Australia and England.Credit:Getty Images
Once the most popular form of cricket, the 50-over game has faded in relevance as it continues to be squeezed by Test and Twenty20 formats.
Only a few thousand tickets have been sold for the Adelaide game, with Cricket Australia relying heavily on the loyalty of South Australian Cricket Association members to reduce the spareness of a mostly empty 52,000-seat Adelaide Oval.
There has been a similarly underwhelming response for the remaining games in Sydney on Saturday and Melbourne on Tuesday. That comes off a disappointing performance by Australia in the well-supported Twenty20 World Cup.
Heading into the series as official one-day captain for the first time, Pat Cummins didn’t sound optimistic about the crowd.
Tim Worner of Seven West, James Sutherland of Cricket Australia and Patrick Delany of Foxtel are all smiles on April 13, 2018, after settling on a $1.18 billion deal.Credit:AAP
“It’s hard to know,” he said. “It’s still early on in the year and school holidays aren’t here yet. I think you’ll see the big crowds around the Test matches.”
Under government anti-siphoning laws, international cricket must be offered to free-to-air networks before it can be shown on pay television.
The most recent deal in 2018 resulted in Channel Seven taking the Tests and most of the men’s and women’s Big Bash for almost $400 million.
Fox and its streaming service Kayo took everything for $800 million, simulcasting what Seven was showing and putting one-day and Twenty20 internationals behind a paywall for the first time.
When Channel Nine broadcast one-day games they were often the highest rating format.
However, industry sources claim Test cricket is now the most sought-after form of the game.
