The Cricket World Cup starts on a high note.

Opening ceremonies were in Christchurch and Melbourne, appealing and engaging.
The tournament promises great cricket spectaculars.
This is a game largely played in just a few countries but with incredibly high ranking brand image and popularity…indeed, in a global arena, it is way ahead of baseball, the American 'equivalent' (OK, don't shout too much!). Derivative competitions in the main playing countries, such as Big Bash in Australia, are pulling in crowds and serious TV broadcast revenues. This really is a game the business profile of which provides immense knowledge for other sports.

To the Americans, cricket is almost akin to holidaying aliens. The games is hardly known and substantially a mystery. Mind you, even in Australia there are those who don't get it…
See how ESPN has, in a witty way, explained the cricket world cup to its viewers.

And how the game is explained in simple terms by, of all entities, the Wall Street Journal. CLICK HERE to go to the page.

Cricket Australia is seeing surging revenues with the resurgence of interest. Revenues for 2014-2017 projected are at A$1.22 billion up from A$736 million in the previous reporting period. As co-host of the World Cup for the first time in 23 years, Cricket Australia gets a nice slice from the 1million tickets sold during the six-week tournament. The games have been sell-outs.

Television rights for international cricket — which include the World Cup — were sold by the International Cricket Council to a joint venture of ESPN-Star Sports in 2006, reportedly for US$1.1 billion. Star Group, a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, bought out ESPN in 2012 and holds the rights to broadcast the World Cup to more than 200 countries, covering 2.5 billion people.

This article was part published in "Back on the Block" – you can read and subscribe for free  - click here

Eric Winton

Director, New Millennium Business

Comments are closed