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Saturday, May 31, 2025

Paramount Makes $1B Bid for Cricket Australia Rights

  • In 2018, Cricket Australia signed a six-year, $809 million media rights pact with Foxtel and Seven Network.
  • In July, it landed a deal with Disney worth $250 million to broadcast games in India.
Members of Australia's cricket team warming up before game
Cricket Australia

Cricket Australia may have found its next domestic media rights holder. 

Paramount has emerged as the favorite to land a media rights deal with a seven-year, $1 billion bid that includes one-day international games, test matches, and the men’s and women’s Big Bash Leagues — two Twenty20 competitions launched by Cricket Australia in 2011.

  • In 2018, Cricket Australia signed a six-year, $809 million domestic media rights pact with Foxtel and Seven Network.
  • Before the deal, Cricket Australia had spent four decades airing games domestically through free-to-air TV broadcaster Nine Network.
  • In July, Cricket Australia landed a deal with Disney worth $250 million to broadcast games in India via Disney Star.

Cricket Australia Lands $250M Rights Deal with Disney Star

Cricket Australia has secured a media rights deal with Disney worth $250…
July 25, 2022

Paramount has outbid Seven West Media and Foxtel — both of which have expressed reluctance in matching Paramount’s offer, believing the media rights are overvalued following lackluster TV ratings for a recent Australian test series and underwhelming audiences for BBL games.

Committed to Down Under 

In 2021, Paramount owner ViacomCBS landed a five-year, $155.5 million domestic media rights deal with The A-League and W-League — Australia’s top men’s and women’s soccer leagues. 

The deal, which includes streaming games on Paramount+, can be extended for three years.

Paramount+ reported 46 million subscribers for the third quarter ending Sept. 30. The service — which launched in March 2021 — added 4.6 million subscribers in Q3 but lost 1.9 million.

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