Mihir Bose: Board are ready to cash in on England revival (07 June 1997)

Saturday 7 June 1997

Board are ready to cash in on England revival

Mihir Bose.

ENGLAND`S demolition of Australia on the field has enhanced the England and Wales Cricket Board`s chances of making a killing off it. The board could bring in -L50 million through sponsorship, television rights, merchandising and gate receipts for the World Cup when it comes home in 1999

England will not get all this money, but whereas the other Testplaying countries can hope to get a maximum of -L1 million each, England`s share could be as much as -L20 million.

Unlike the previous six World Cups, the 1999 event will not have just one sponsor. Instead, like football`s World Cup, this event, known as the International Cricket Council World Cup, will have eight.

All of them will get a piece of the action and none of the countries will be able to advertise their sponsors, unless they are one of the eight, on their shirts or logos. The ECB also plan to have logos, in addition to players` names, on the shirts.

I understand the ECB are close to doing a deal with Coca-Cola, and talks are going on with an oil company, believed to be Shell, and National Grid, who sponsor the international panel of umpires. The ECB are asking for -L2 million from each sponsor.

Terry Blake, the marketing manager of the ECB, said: "I cannot tell you any names, but I can say that what happened at Edgbaston on Thursday and yesterday has made my task of selling the World Cup a lot easier."

Blake is also close to making television deals and here again he is following a different style from that of previous World Cups. Although Blake is being advised by marketing consultants CSI, he has taken charge of the negotiations and is dealing directly with the countries` broadcasters.

For last year`s World Cup, the television rights were sold to a middleman, who then resold them around the world. Although the Pakistan and Indian cricket boards earned some $20 million, the way it was done caused confusion.

The collapse in this country of Wire TV, who had originally bought the rights, threatened to deny the public any coverage until Sky took over. This time Sky and the BBC are likely to be co-broadcast- ers for this country, but the Blake strategy seems to be to tie up the overseas television market before starting negotiations at home. He is close to announcing a deal with the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

Television insiders feel Blake could get as much as -L20 million, with England`s share being 40 to 50 per cent. Decisions will be made at the ICC`s annual meeting at Lord`s next week where Blake, also the tournament director, will announce the fixtures for the World Cup. Each of the 18 first-class counties will get at least one World Cup match, and there will be two matches in Scotland and one each in Ireland and Holland.

NEXT week`s ICC meeting will also decide whether England will go to Florida to play an international match at Disney World. Disney, as already reported in this column, are keen to host cricket matches, but would like a commitment from all Testplaying countries to play international one-day games at Disney World.

Their plan is that all nine Test-playing countries would visit Orlando over a three-year period beginning in 1998. Disney are very keen that England should start it off with a triangular tournament featuring Australia and the West Indies in late September, immediately after the NatWest final. If the ICC approve, Disney will go ahead and lay a cricket pitch.

Also to be discussed is a proposal by Ali Bacher, managing director of the South African Cricket Board, for a World Cup every two years. South Africa are due to stage the World Cup in 2003 but a compromise may be to bring it forward to 2002, and after that to stage the competition every two years with the West Indies hosting it in 2004.

Although some in the ICC are worried that this will further tip the balance in favour of one-day cricket, the marketing and television men are keenly supportive.

ANOTHER meeting at Lord`s with potentially far-reaching effects will take place 24 hours before the ICC members gather on Wednes- day. The chief executive`s committee meet to decide whether to renew the contract for the chief executive, David Richards, whose present deal has another year to run. He would like a five-year contract at about -L75,000 a year.

This would mean Richards would be chief executive for 10 years and some Test-playing countries feel that is too long for one man to run the show. But they are aware that the ICC are going through major changes, with Jagmohan Dalmiya, of India, taking over as president next week. Richards, it is felt, should stay on for some time to provide continuity. The compromise is likely to be a five-year contract but with a break clause after three years allowing the ICC to look at the issue again.

THE Oaks and the Derby are both run over 1.5 miles. Right? Wrong. Yesterday`s Oaks was 7-10 yards longer than the course the Derby horses will take today. Andrew Cooper, clerk of the course, told me: "In order to protect the ground for the Derby, as the horses come down the slope and up the straight we take them wide. This happens about five furlongs from the finish and it makes the Oaks 7-10 yards longer."

ONE other thing about the Derby. It is as special in English horse racing as the FA Cup final is in football or the Wimbledon men`s singles final in tennis. On the big football and tennis days no other matches distract the faithful, and yet today there will be a full card at six other racecourses. When the French hold their Derby they have only two very minor trot and chase events and there are no other horse races at all during the Arc. So why do we try to detract from Derby day?

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/)