Icc Members To Own Majority Of The Us T20 League? (and Other Interesting Developments)

[Bariaga]

From the image of a newspaper article Cricket Holdings America posted on their Facebook page couple hours ago..

[img=http://img40.imagevenue.com/loc237/th_500298123_404162_285406154892840_1357018353_n_122_237lo.jpg]

ICC members and affiliates hold 54% in US T20 league and they will remain majority owners, said Maxwell, a former right-handed Australian batsman who was also the CEO of the Kings XI franchise of the IPL.

"The ICC is supporting this because they realize that if cricket has to grow it has to tap into new markets as the old ones are saturated and the best format to do this is the T20." Maxwell said.

Other interesting tidbits:
- They have talked to "over 200 top international players and all of whom are very keen on playing in a new market like the US." (might be some exaggeration there)
- The superstars will be paid $1 million for three weeks of work! (in USD? wow! They have a bigger plan than I expected.)
- Teams have to include at least 1 local player (the limit seems low but with the current talent level of the US cricketers I didn't expect more than 2 per team anyway.)
- An estimate average price per franchise would be $40 million for 10 years, to be paid 10% a year. (Someone will have to explain that one to me.)


And, according to an article on ESPNcricinfo, they are planning to go with artificial pitches to get the ball rolling (bouncing?).

With the lack of cricketing infrastructure in the United States, spending money to construct new turf wicket stadiums would require significant investment in an unproven market. The league's first season is tentatively set to take place over three to four weeks in June and July of 2013 and the cost to maintain a turf facility if left unused for 11 months could also prove to be expensive and inefficient. Maxwell says artificial pitches are a better option to get the league underway.

"The biggest hurdle to try and stage major cricket matches is the cost and ongoing maintenance of turf pitches," Maxwell said. "For the Twenty20 product where really you're coming to see the ball struck to the boundary as often as possible, the bowlers are given some encouragement, but the main thing is going to be regular bounce and give them player safety and we think that's going to be the best solution for it. The advancement in technology of these things is phenomenal, even in the last five years."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/usa/content/current/story/585694.html

 

[Bariaga]

CHA hires PR firms in three countries to help sell their plan and the franchises.

The league aims to sell six franchises in major cities across the US for an estimated US$40m each over 10 years. The competition aims to take place in summer 2013 and promises to feature a raft of top international cricketers and significant celebrity involvement.

Cricket Holdings America has hired agencies in the US, UK and India to promote the plans.
Square1 Consulting is handling media in the UK, with agency founder David Bick and former BBC journalist Brian Alexander leading the account. Next Level Media Communications and BrandLink Communications have been brought on board in India and the US respectively.
The new UST20 League aims to tap into the passion for cricket among the US’ large ex-pat communities from countries such as India, Pakistan, England and the Caribbean.

http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/1154907/cricket-holdings-america-brings-pr-help-launch-t20-us/

My suggestion is to lower the franchise fee first. Cricket has enough fans in this country to have a successful niche league but it's not popular enough (or will be anytime soon) and doesn't have enough games per season to command that kind of money.

 

[troll3y]

What do you make of the tournament being postponed? I read a comment saying that the LHC should focus on selling the game to Americans, not the rest of the world. That's a great point, but I still don't mind the postponement too much. I agree that some of those monetary figures they've mentioned are a bit... ambitious, but it would be incredible for the game if they pulled it off. Realistically and sensibly, though, those figures really do have to come down.