Cricket involving the Indian cricket team is booming commercially, more so now than ever. And the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has the biggest hand in minting the highest amount from the sport. Banking on this business model, Cricket South Africa (CSA) is now looking to mitigate their previous three years’ combined losses of USD 28.5 million as per a recent Cricbuzz report.
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Scheduled to host India for three T20Is and ODIs each and a couple of Tests between December 10 and January 7, CSA has high achievable hopes of making a large amount of profit, mostly on the back of fans generating interest due to the presence of the Indian cricketers.
CSA’s ambitions won’t just end by wiping away the above mentioned losses. In fact, they intend to make an additional profit of USD 40.2 million – all within a 29-day India’s tour of South Africa.
Starting in Durban Sunday onward, a hoard of Indian fans will be thronging several other stadiums nationwide to cheer and support their team. Irrespective of the format, the stadiums are expected to be jam-packed.
However, it is to be noted that ticket sales contribute to peanuts when it comes to the overall money generated from an international series. Affluent broadcasting rights skyrocketing due to an Indian presence all but guarantees the fulfillment of the aforementioned figures.
How Did Cricket South Africa Suffer Huge Losses?
Sixth richest cricket board in the world, Cricket South Africa is understandably earning way less than the Big Three comprising BCCI, Cricket Australia (CA) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
Mismanagement and the team’s poor performance have waned the popularity of cricket somewhat, directly affecting the finances of cricket in the country over the years.
A major issue is a reduction in the number of domestic matches being played in the nation. The move has been criticized by many from the quality of cricketers’ perspective, but it also has financial implications. With fewer four-day matches being played internally, the nature of cricket has perhaps become cyclical resulting in fans losing interest. Thus, the board generating less revenue.
On top of that, post getting hit by COVID-19, restructuring the domestic format and other instabilities didn’t help CSA’s case either. As a result, prior to this India series, the board had reverted back to cutting down costs of funding to save some money. It spent INR 40 million and INR 41 million less respectively on amateur and professional circuit of cricket.
While eight international matches against India are expected to cover up the losses and generate profits, CSA has still a lot of rebuilding to do if they are to generate a constant flow of money. The emergence of SA20, yet another T20 league conceived by the CSA, has provided signs of promising times to come even at the cost of sidelining international tours.
