{"id":157762,"date":"2025-09-21T01:09:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T01:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/157762\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T01:09:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T01:09:14","slug":"how-indian-premier-league-investors-would-seek-to-transform-australian-cricket-if-allowed-buy-into-big-bash-league-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/157762\/","title":{"rendered":"How Indian Premier League investors would seek to transform Australian cricket if allowed buy into Big Bash League teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

However, KKR group boss Mysore explained in an exclusive interview with this masthead that he and other potential investors would want an exclusive window for all players to appear in the entire BBL tournament, plus the right to rename and rebrand teams to give them higher visibility in India.<\/p>\n

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He said any overlap between Test cricket and the T20 league would be a red line for many potential investors.<\/p>\n

This would leave Cricket Australia with a huge challenge around how to structure the summer while preserving the things that matter to Australian cricket fans; the Boxing Day and New Year\u2019s Tests.<\/p>\n

Mysore said it was unlikely that Indian investors with IPL teams in their stables would be content to buy into the BBL as passive participants. They would want a say in the name and branding of the teams, player availability, match timeslots and calendar windows.<\/p>\n

\u201cSustained interest in the league will depend on the availability of all local and foreign players,\u201d Mysore said. \u201cThe two key components are a dedicated window, without any clashes with other leagues, and full availability of local players.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, there is a contrast between investors, like KKR group or Mumbai Indians group \u2013 owned by the multi-billionaire Ambani family \u2013 and so-called \u201ctech titans\u201d based in the United States.<\/p>\n

A group of these tech moguls recently paid $300 million for a 49 per cent stake in the London Spirit franchise based at Lord\u2019s. Some investors may be content simply to buy in because of the prestige.<\/p>\n

But already, the Hundred has been criticised by new franchise owners because the ECB rested some Test players from the early rounds following their exhausting drawn Test series against India.<\/p>\n

At the same time, franchises are in the process of being renamed. <\/p>\n

BBL clubs, such as the Melbourne Stars and Sydney Sixers, have been described as \u201ctrophy assets\u201d that investors will want to buy into simply to be associated with legendary venues, such as the MCG, SCG or Adelaide Oval.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The continued appeal of the BBL was on show at Ninja Stadium in January when Mitch Owen powered the Hobart Hurricanes to victory over Sydney Thunder to claim the title.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

But Mysore says investors expecting a return will be looking for ways to be actively involved.<\/p>\n

That is certainly the case for KKR, who would want to have a team named Melbourne or Sydney Knight Riders, branded in the group\u2019s purple and gold colours, and involving players like Sunil Narine, who already have year-round deals with KKR.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnight Riders were the first to conceive of and execute on a global brand strategy,\u201d Mysore said. \u201cIt has become a genuine global brand that has also globalised our fan base.\u201d<\/p>\n

CA says the Big Bash League is in good health, though still down on its peak season in 2016, when more than 80,000 people turned up for a Stars-Renegades derby at the MCG.<\/p>\n

\"AT<\/p>\n

AT the peak of its popularity, the BBL drew 80,000 fans to the MCG for a Melbourne derby in January 2016.Credit: Daniel Pockett – CA\/Cricket Australia via Getty Images<\/p>\n

In those days, the BBL was seen as the world\u2019s second-best T20 league behind the IPL, but since then, the franchise market has exploded.<\/p>\n

There are now major leagues in South Africa and the UAE competing for players at the same time as the BBL, in addition to those in India, the West Indies, England and the United States.<\/p>\n

This growth has provided unprecedented opportunities for players to make millions<\/a>, and demonstrated how much private capital is potentially available to cricket in Australia, should CA and the states finally decide to take the plunge.<\/p>\n

CA says the windfall would help supercharge the Big Bash, including a handsome increase to the salary cap to keep the best players from absconding to other leagues, and flow through to the grassroots.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy experience with privately owned teams is, if done right, it\u2019s a really good thing for the sport,\u201d said Australian Test captain Pat Cummins, who was purchased by Sunrisers Hyderabad at the 2024 IPL auction $3.7 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at an IPL team that\u2019s privately funded, and the amount they put into the team and programs, they do their own development camps and their own talent pathway and academies.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur IPL team we have a social media team of about 30 people who travel around, so there\u2019s things that can get unlocked that make the experience better for fans. Then the big question is how do you use those funds to make sure that cricket\u2019s in a really good spot and supporting community cricket as well as professional cricket.\u201d<\/p>\n

But these leagues are not without their problems. The SAT20 is the third attempt by Cricket South Africa to grow a healthy franchise competition, jointly owned by pay TV service Supersport and a conglomerate of Indian investors. South Africa\u2019s wider economic struggles, particularly in terms of the value of the Rand, is costing millions for team owners each year.<\/p>\n

Mysore was not shy in saying that there is something of a bubble about the growth of franchise leagues, up to and including the lofty sums paid for teams in the Hundred.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe financial viability in the medium to long term is a very important component,\u201d Mysore said. \u201cIn the event that leagues are not financially viable, the future of those leagues will be questioned.\u201d<\/p>\n

The BBL is an attractive proposition for investors, given its history of relative financial success and the fact it is underpinned by Cricket Australia\u2019s place as one of the \u201cbig three\u201d nations alongside India and England.<\/p>\n

But much of the BBL\u2019s strength has derived from taking a very different approach to the franchise model. The tournament co-exists with Test cricket, especially around Boxing Day and New Year, and does not rely on the presence of Cummins, Travis Head or Mitchell Starc playing its full duration.<\/p>\n

\"Mysore<\/p>\n

Mysore with established Knight Riders player Sunil Narine.Credit: NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

In turn, that has allowed the Australian Test team to perform at a consistently high level with minimal disruption from the T20 circuit. It\u2019s a dynamic that relies upon a shared sense of purpose between Cricket Australia and the states, who control the BBL teams.<\/p>\n

CA\u2019s chief executive Todd Greenberg and chair Mike Baird have met with their state association counterparts over the past two weeks in attempts to thrash out details of a potential sale, but are yet to reach consensus. The states hold 30-year licences to the clubs, with a 15-year review clause that comes into effect next year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re considering,\u201d Baird told this masthead. \u201cIf you did consider private investment, what are the key criteria we would keep.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo individual teams and owners and what they might want, any sort of criteria, that is for us to consider and set the criteria. If we want to make the decision to consider private investment, it would be done on our terms, and done collectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe risks and challenges we\u2019ve seen across the world. The beauty is we can take the best of that and put in the terms and conditions that are important to Australian cricket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mysore has fond memories of watching Test matches in his hometown of Chennai every January, and respects the traditions of Boxing Day and New Year Tests in Australia.<\/p>\n

But that respect will not stop Mysore and others from asking questions before they decide whether to buy a franchise.<\/p>\n

In the UK, team owners have pushed for the separate sale of broadcast rights for the Hundred, away from international cricket, so that the value of the tournament is more clearly known.<\/p>\n

While the big broadcast numbers attracted by the Boxing Day and New Year\u2019s Tests are widely thought to aid the audiences for BBL games in the evenings, franchise owners will want to know which is helping which.<\/p>\n

Baird has stressed that CA and the states must retain control of whatever privatisation model is ultimately agreed. A decision is expected before the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, we\u2019d want to control the schedule,\u201d Baird said. \u201cSo that Test cricket remains an essential part of the Australian summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cummins said other nations would love to have the commercially successful Test series seen here.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a different model to a lot of other countries, but I think it\u2019s a better model,\u201d he said. \u201cThey wish they could have five Test matches sold out and everyone watched as well as the BBL.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great we\u2019ve got two tournaments that can run concurrently and there\u2019s a place for both of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The global strategy becomes still more attractive if Indian players are available to play outside the IPL. So far, the BCCI has rebuffed inquiries by franchise owners about allowing more freedom of movement, but the recent decision of champion off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to quit the IPL and go \u201cglobal\u201d, potentially to the BBL this summer, shows that the mood is gradually shifting.<\/p>\n

Mysore declined to comment on whether Indian players would be more freely available to play in overseas leagues in the future, but Baird said this week he was in constant discussions about the matter with Indian authorities.<\/p>\n

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The BBL was effectively bankrolled in its first two years by CA\u2019s slice of the cash from the short-lived T20 Champions League. But in 2013 CA signed a deal with Ten for the tournament for about $100 million over five years. That figure grew again as part of a $1.18 billion overall deal with Foxtel and Seven in 2018, before the current $1.5 billion agreement was signed in 2023.<\/p>\n

Franchise owners will want a percentage of the broadcast rights value from any future deals. In the meantime, plenty have conveyed their interest to Cummins, over numerous seasons of the IPL.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree or four of the IPL owners have been like, \u2018oh we\u2019d love to get involved\u2019,\u201d Cummins said. \u201cA lot of Indian fans, they\u2019ve grown up watching Australian cricket teams, and they hold Australian cricket in such high regard that the BBL is, in their eyes, a really attractive league they want to be a part of, and they want to be linked to Australian cricket.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"However, KKR group boss Mysore explained in an exclusive interview with this masthead that he and other potential…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-157762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}