Nine signs with ACB for seven more years (29 Apr 1998)

29 April 1998 _________________________________________________________________

The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) announced yesterday that it had signed a new contract with the Nine Network to televise international cricket in Australia until the 2005-2006 season. The current contract expires after the conclusion of the 1998-99 season, and the new agreement extends Channel Nine's involvement for another seven years. The announcement was made at a press conference in Sydney by ACB chairman Denis Rogers, and James Packer, the managing director of PBL, the company that owns the Nine Network. Packer is the son of former PBL head Kerry Packer.

This contract gives the Nine Network exclusive rights as the telecaster on free-to-air TV in Australia of all Test matches and one-day internationals played in Australia, plus selected Mercantile Mutual Cup matches - an arrangement similar to the one in place at present. The contract does not include coverage of Sheffield Shield matches.

While there had been rumours that other networks would bid for the telecast rights once the existing contract expired (especially Channel Seven), no formal bid was received from any other network.

Details of the contract have not been disclosed, but it is believed to be worth around $25 million a year - $175 million (approx $US 115 million) in total. It is estimated that this will add approximately $10 million per annum to the ACB's existing revenue.

The ACB's rights agreement with Channel Nine does not include Pay-TV rights to screen international cricket in Australia, nor does it include the sale of rights to matches played in Australia to overseas telecasters. The ACB will continue to handle these, and could be expected to earn further substantial revenue from overseas sales. It is likely that increased payments to international and first-class players in Australia will be one of the outcomes from this deal. The flow of revenue into the ACB was a focal point of discussions between the ACB and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) in recent months, with ACA representatives expressing the view that the ACB had sold TV rights in the past to Channel Nine for less than their true value.

The Nine Network has held the rights to televise cricket in Australia since the 1979-80 season, following two years of screening the Packer-owned breakaway World Series Cricket. By the time the latest contract expires, Channel Nine will have been telecasting official international cricket in Australia continuously for twenty-seven years.

Digital television will be introduced into Australia during the life of the new contract, commencing from 2001. This is likely to bring significant technological changes to the way that televised cricket is presented to the viewing public, and Mr Rogers stated that the new agreement had provision for television's expansion into this field.

The contract also provides for the Nine Network to supply internet services on behalf of the ACB, including a joint venture to host the ACB internet site. The Nine Network is currently joint partner with the Microsoft Corporation in the nineMSN internet site (ninemsn.com.au). The ACB web site (www.acb.com.au) is currently operated by Melbourne-based multimedia publishers Cadability.