Incoming Ten Network chief executive Hamish McLennan has said that the commercial broadcaster will bid for the next cycle of domestic rights to Australian cricket and the Australian Open tennis grand slam tournament, according to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
McLennan, who starts in his new position next month, said that “cricket is the next cab off the rank” in terms of building up Ten’s sports-rights portfolio and added that acquiring the cricket rights would attract a “broader audience” to Ten.
The report said that Ten could table a joint bid with pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports for the rights to national team Test and one-day matches in Australia plus domestic club competitions the Sheffield Shield and Big Bash League over five years, from 2013-14 to 2017-18.
The newspaper added that Cricket Australia, the sport’s governing body in Australia, is hoping to secure A$100 million (€77.8 million/$102.8 million) per year from the next cycle, and commercial broadcaster Nine, the incumbent rights-holder, will have the option of matching the highest offer.
Free-to-air channel Seven is the incumbent rights-holder for the Australian Open in a six-year deal, from 2009 to 2014.