Cricket South Africa release combined ITT for international games and inaugural SA20 league

Cricket South Africa (CSA) is demanding from the Indian broadcasters $7 million for an India encounter, across all formats, and $240,000 for each SA20 league game. This was the main lesson learned from the media rights tender (ITT) discussed among Indian media outlets on Monday (September 26).

The asking amount, when expressed in Indian Rupees (INR), comes to Rs 64 crore ($8 million) for the SA20 season and Rs 56 crore for each India match. The reserve fee is $3 million (Rs 24 crore) for each home international match involving a team other than India. The Indian subcontinent-only territory is covered by these reserve prices.

The agreement is for the ICC Future Tours Programme's next cycle (FTP - 2024–31), during which time the CSA is expected to host 87 international matches, with roughly 21 of those being Indian fixtures. India will tour again in 2030–31 and again in December–January 2027–28. In 2023–2024, the Indian team is also slated to travel to South Africa, although that trip falls under the current cycle, for which Star Sports already holds broadcasting rights.

Regarding SA20, proposals have been requested for five seasons, the first of which will feature 33 games and the next four, 34. The ITT reads as follows:

"5.2 The reserve price for the League is US$240,000 (two hundred and forty thousand United States Dollars) per League Match. 5.3 The Licence Fee payable for the League shall increase at the rate of 5% per Season of the League on a compound basis.”

"5.4 There shall be no change in the Licence Fee payable for the League if there is an increase or decrease of up to five (5) Matches in a given Season ("Permitted Variance"), but increases or decreases above or below the Permitted Variance will result in a pro rata adjustment of the Licence Fee."

"The 2023 Season the League will comprise 6 (six) Franchises or Teams based in cities across South Africa who will play in a league format that currently culminates each Season in play-off Matches to determine the winner of the League. With 6 (six) Franchises/ Teams, it is envisaged that the League will comprise 33 (thirty) Matches in the 2023 Season, moving to 34 (thirty) Matches in the 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027 Seasons," The ITT further added.

The Indian market's unenthusiastic response led to the CSA issuing a new ITT that combines international matches with SA20. The ITT states the point in its outline saying "For clarity, this ITT and the resulting tender process supersedes and replaces the RFP for the CSA Rights that had been issued on 8 September 2022 and the resulting process, which stands cancelled."

The benefit of the deal is that South Africa is in the time zone that Indian viewers for international matches find to be the friendliest, with a difference of only three and a half hours. Australia and England, on the other hand, are in a five-hour time zone. But considering the recent rise in popularity of their teams, England and Australia are thought to have larger fan bases in India.

For comparison, the seven-year contract between Cricket Australia and Star, which covers the Big Bash League, is valued 200 million dollars, while the Sony-ECB agreement, which covers The Hundred, is worth 275 million dollars. Indian broadcasters have the instant sense that the package is not robust.  The asking price for a non-Indian international game is also deemed to be excessively exorbitant, along with the base price of Rs 1.9 crore every SA20 match or $8 million for a season.

The first India tour included in the package is only after five years, which is plainly a drawback given that the basic worth of an India fixture (Rs 56 crore or $7 million) is certainly less than the $10 million that Sony is forking out for an England-India game. The deadline for requesting information is October 3. The deadline for proposal submission is October 12 at 5 PM SA time.