CRICKET may elect to accept a drop-off in crowds and television ratings to try and reclaim “fickle February’’ off marauding football codes.
A debate is underway between Cricket Australia and broadcasters bidding for Big Bash rights over whether the competition should stretch into mid-February in the next television rights deal expected to be signed by April.
Broadcasters would prefer the competition ended in late January to coincide with the start of the ratings year but Cricket Australia has cautiously plotted to expand the hugely successful Bash into mid-February.
The case for Big Bash expansion was not helped by the fact that television ratings have been slightly down this summer from an average of 1,021,750 viewers per match last season to around 947,000 this season.
Sunday’s final between the Adelaide Strikers and the Hobart Hurricanes drew 1.04 capital city viewers which was the biggest second session in a Big Bash final for several years but not a jaw dropping return.
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Broadcasters would much prefer to use the Big Bash to promote its big shows, not get in the way of them, but cricket has another problem which it must address which stretches beyond the traditional metrics of crowds and ratings.
Cricket wants to own as much of the summer as it can and the window is getting smaller.
The AFL women’s competition started on the weekend and already news outlets are flooded with football news so cricket does not own February like it once did.
There will be a late spike in interest when Australia plays a four-Test series against South Africa in April but the game is keen to have more of a presence in February, particularly as the men’s rugby league and Australian rules competitions do not start until March.
Cricket Australia officials accept that with children back at school Big Bash crowds could never be as big in February as they are during the holidays.
And there is also an acknowledgment ratings would drop off given the competition would be more challenging against major networks which kick off in late January.
But if the Big Bash can push into February it would help cricket reclaim lost ground given Sheffield Shield matches no longer count in the push for crowds because they barely attract them.
Australia is aware that the demise of English cricket has been partly due to the fact that the English Premier League soccer competition shaves the start and ends of the English summer to leave cricket with precious little time to show its wares so it wants the Australian summer to be as broad as possible.
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