The Big Interview – ECB
Ahead of a massive summer of cricket – with the ICC Champions Trophy and the first of two Ashes Series this year coming to English shores – SportIndustry.biz speaks to John Perera, commercial director of the ECB.
After a quiet 2012, with some other events taking the majority of the sporting attention in England last year, the England & Wales Cricket Board is now looking at arguably the biggest 12 months, commercially, in the body’s history. With a home series against New Zealand quickly followed by the ICC Champions Trophy, the summer will already have seen a significant amount of cricket on television and on the back pages, even before archrivals Australia land on British soil for the Investec Ashes Series; the first of back-to-back clashes as England follow their opponents back Down Under for the return leg, this winter.
As England’s rugby side continue to lick their wounds from a Welsh demolition in the RBS Six Nations decider and England’s football team continue to promise much and deliver little, it again falls to the cricket side – currently second in the world – to restore some national pride.
According to Perera, who joined the ECB in 2005, broadcast revenue contributes to 80% of the body’s total revenue coming into the sport, ‘not dissimilar to the other cricketing boards we work with including Cricket Australia and the ICC. The other 20% of our revenue comes from our commercial side – sponsors, licensing and the fees we gain from awarding major matches to grounds.’
‘Outside of that there is Government funding as well.
‘In the next four years, going forward, we are going to be enjoying revenue of over $500 million from our broadcast rights. The two major deals that make up that figure are the renewal of our domestic broadcast deals with Sky, which is live and exclusive from 2014 onwards, and Channel 5, our terrestrial broadcast partners, and BBC Radio, with which we recently signed a six-year extension for Test Match Special.’
The ECB has secured its immediate future with the deals, having signed up its national broadcast partners until at least 2017, but it is abroad that the ‘modern’ money is set to be made – with a renegotiated broadcast deal in Asia, primarily the Indian marketplace, but also Pakistan, Sri Lanka and across South Asia. Crucially, Star Sports has signed on for the 2013-17 period, with more deals likely to be announced across North America and Australia.
‘We have re-aligned our UK broadcast deals with our Asian broadcast deals in terms of termination, and it’s those deals that will make up the majority of our broadcast revenues; it enables us as a sport to start planning for the future.’
The 80% figure represents a 20% increase from five years ago and is set to continue to rise, as is the case for a number of sports.
Perera revealed ‘the main driving force of this increase in broadcast revenue is competition in the marketplace, quality and live content and the Indian market place. Cricket is the prime sport in the Indian marketplace, similar to football’s rights over here. I think we will still see more growth in India in the future.’
As the Indian market continues to grow as the dominant cricket force within the industry – potentially to the advantage of other national bodies – a major Test Series with England in 2014 comes as the perfect time for the ECB, with Perera admitting that, from a commercial point of view, the tour to India represents a bigger opportunity for growth to the organisation than the upcoming Ashes Series.
‘Commercially the five tests and five ODI’s is a very strong opportunity for ECB given the opportunity in the Indian market place. The amount of exposure in the 2014 series is massive in the Indian marketplace, we have seen what we need to do, and that is to capitalise upon that exposure from a commercial point of view.’
Meanwhile, on 19th June David Collier, chief executive of the ECB will take to the stage at the second Nolan Partners Sport Industry Breakfast Club of 2013. Check out all the details and book your place today.
Check back next week for part two of John Perera’s interview, on the £14 million generated from commercial partners per year, at sig-staging.ypstagingserver.com/
