Indian Premier League: Does SA20 not having a TV contract affect the league's long-term viability?
That Cricket South Africa's new T20 franchise league, the SA20, has a distinctly Indian feel to it is obvious. After all, the six teams are owned by people who own IPL franchises
SA team mates celebratesMoreover, each team will also take on the identity of their Indian counterpart. Yet despite that, the SA20 doesn't have a broadcast deal with an Indian channel – at least not yet.
The reasons for this are two-fold. For one, CSA expected a similar amount to what Zee paid for the UAE-based International League T20 (ILT20).
That amounts to about $120 million for ten seasons, or $12 million a season. However, no broadcast media company was willing to come close to that deal.
The second is, of course, the nature of the timings of the matches. South Africa is three and a half hours behind India in time, which means prime time matches will air much later for an Indian audience.
As a result, CSA will now combine the TV rights of SA20 along with their international matches. TV rights of the next cycle, which just so happens to come up at the start of 2023 – the time when the SA20 will get underway.
It is worth noting that Star currently have the rights for South Africa matches to be aired in the Indian subcontinent.
However, it is also worth noting that by clubbing the two, CSA is admitting that no one is currently willing to pay a significant fee for their new league.
This is even though Mumbai Indians' owners Reliance, who own the MI Cape Town franchise, have a newly-launched sports channel of their own in Sports18 and a streaming service in Voot that could use the additional cricket content.
It is a warning sign for the league and CSA, who have been burnt twice in their attempts at starting a franchise-based club in the recent past.
The first attempt came in 2017 when the board launched the T20 Global League. However, that league never even got off the ground due to being able to find neither a title sponsor nor get a broadcast deal.
Then came the Mzansi Super League a year later, which lasted two seasons but was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The cancellations, however, took a toll – CSA were the ones footing the bill, and, in the end, the league became more trouble than it was worth.
The SA20, at the very least, has a local broadcaster in SuperSport – who are also partially investing money in the league. But the lack of TV money from India will be a concern.
However, it is worth noting that even if they get a broadcast deal in India, that isn't going to be worth a lot. The ILT20 was an anomaly – most international and domestic leagues pale compared to the money the IPL gets.
Therefore, CSA should look to build itself up locally before thinking of aiming for a big, lucrative Indian deal. Failure to do so might see it go the way of the GLT20 and the MSL.