Paramount Makes $1B Bid for Cricket Australia Rights

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.

Deals

| by Justin Byers

Cricket Australia Lands $250M Rights Deal with Disney Star

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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.