Nine Network’s director of sport, Steve Crawley, said that the Big Bash, the Australian Twenty20 cricket franchise league, would need to involve the world’s best players in order to reach its potential on television.
According to the Herald Sun, Nine will have first and last refusal the next time the rights for the Big Bash are sold. It is being shown on the Fox Sports pay-television channel through to the end of next season.
The newspaper said that Cricket Australia, the governing body that operates the Big Bash, would like the tournament to be broadcast on free-to-air television. However, the report added that the competition’s average audience of 300,000 on Fox would need to triple to make the tournament viable for Nine.
Crawley said he would like to see “all the best players in the country and a smattering from around the world” at the Big Bash.
“There are a few things to work out with it but I think it’s got a hell of a lot of potential,” he added. “However, wiser men than me will negotiate the rights.”