Indian pay-television broadcaster Star Sports and New Zealand Cricket (NZC) have failed to reach agreement on the renewal of their rights deal, according to a report.
The exchange4media website, citing a source close to the matter, reported that a deal has not been struck due to “valuation issues”.
Star Sports’ three-year deal with New Zealand Cricket was signed in November 2017 at a value of $35million and expires this year. The contract includes television and digital media rights in the Indian sub-continent and southeast Asia to all of New Zealand’s home matches across its men’s and women’s teams.
New Zealand Cricket had been hoping to avoid a reduction on its current income from Star, exchange4media reported. The source told the website that the current market scenario and business implications relating to the Covid-19 pandemic are the main reasons for Star’s refusal to extend the deal.
The Pakistan Cricket Board, Cricket West Indies and Sri Lanka Cricket are also struggling to secure rights deals in India.
Star Sports is the dominant player in Indian cricket broadcasting, holding rights to all international and domestic matches played in the country. Star’s current five-year deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) commenced on April 1, 2018 and is worth Rs61.381bn (€722.4m/$816m).
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) are the other boards that have broadcast deals in India. ECB has a five-year deal with Sony Pictures Network India and CA has a six-year deal (Television) with SPNI.
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
#Cricketnews #NZC #Starsports
