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Bit disappointing that the audience was smaller than a regular season match. I guess if Melbourne or Brisbane had made the finals alongside Sydney, the ratings would have been higher...Huge Big Bash TV audiences entice free-to-air networks
- by: Nic Christensen and Nick Leys
- From: The Australian
- January 30, 2012 12:00AM
Sydney Sixers celebrate their T20 Big Bash grand-final triumph against the Perth Scorchers at the WACA Ground on Saturday Source: Getty Images
STRONG ratings for cricket's Big Bash T20 League has increased the likelihood the rebranded event will move to free-to-air television when the rights become available for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
Saturday's Big Bash final, in which the Sydney Sixers beat the Perth Scorchers at the WACA Ground, was watched by an average audience of 459,000 on Fox Sports.
"It is a great result for year one of a new franchise," said Garry Dods, general manager of marketing at global sports and entertainment marketing company Octagon Australasia.
"Saturday's result will definitely present a more attractive opportunity (for commercial free-to-air stations) but it is then a case of what rate will they be sold at and does the economics work?"
The final ratings result makes it the seventh highest rating program in subscription television history.
It comes also just weeks after a match at the MCG, between the Melbourne Stars and the Sydney Thunder, drew a national audience of 472,000, making it the fourth highest rating program in subscription television.
The result is a big success for Cricket Australia after it introduced an expanded Big Bash in December with eight teams and the return to the field of key players such as Shane Warne.
"We're very happy with the way it has gone, you couldn't have asked for a better start," Cricket Australia's general manager of cricket marketing services Mike McKenna said.
He said attendance numbers at the ground had been strong with an average increase in crowds of more than 30 per cent on last year and audiences at the Melbourne and Sydney derbies reaching 40,000 and 30,000, respectively.
According to Cricket Australia, the strong TV ratings have piqued the interest of bidders and it has begun initial negotiations with interested parties.
"We set a target of an average of 165,000 people but to get closer to 280,000 is fantastic," Mr McKenna said.
Any deal was likely to see matches screened on free-to-air and pay-TV, he said.
"We've got to make sure that as a business we get the best result we can for the product we sell and that will be a combination of dollars but also exposure," he said.
A spokesman for the Nine Network, which has first and last refusal on the final offer, said Nine was interested in the rights.
"Nine is the home of cricket and we like what we see in the Big Bash," he said. "We are keen when the rights come up to have a chat with Cricket Australia about a role, but not necessarily owning the rights 100 per cent."
With Nine's director of sport Steve Crawley keen to program the tournament against the Australian Open tennis, one possibility is that a commercial free-to-air bidder might place its coverage on one of the digital channels.
Fox Sports Chief Executive Patrick Delany said the BBL had been a good subscription product for the network. "Any free to air that wanted to challenge us would find some stiff competition," he said.
"The BBL suits subscription TV, as we can broadcast all the games in full on different channels."
He said the prospect of sharing the broadcast rights could be considered. "But we would be more interested in retaining the rights as sole broadcaster."
And another step up for the womens' team yesterday.
Of course it was dwarfed by the mens' ratings but it wasn't bad for a team with virtually no exposure...
