Australian commercial broadcaster Network Ten has entered a period of exclusive talks over a rights deal with the Cricket Australia national governing body, according to the Australian newspaper.
The report said that the window of exclusivity would run until the end of April, with the discussions set to focus on the structure of the possible deal as well as scheduling, production and sublicensing.
Nine, the incumbent rights-holder, will be given the opportunity to match the highest bid, and the newspaper said that the commercial broadcaster is in a powerful position in the sales process in spite of Ten’s exclusive talks with the governing body.
The report added that Ten is willing to spend about A$350 million (€280 million/$364 million), or A$70 million per year, for the rights to national team Test and One-Day International 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 said that commercial broadcaster Seven had lodged a bid of about A$320 million for all of the rights, but had also presented three other options including separate offers for the Big Bash League, One-Day Internationals and Test matches.
Nine paid about A$45 million per year under the previous seven-year deal, from 2006-07 to 2012-13.