Cricket Australia Posts $16.9m Deficit

Cricket Australia (CA) has posted a net deficit of almost $17 million with hosting the Twenty20 World Cup saving the sport from a bigger financial hit.

CA’s annual report for the financial year to the end of June shows a net deficit of $16.9 million.

The report, released on Thursday, details an operating surplus down $4.7 million from the previous financial year, to $102.5 million.

In a joint statement in CA’s annual report, chairman Mike Baird and chief executive officer Nick Hockley said hosting the T20 World Cup in October and November last year was pivotal to the organisation’s overall finances.

“The result was boosted by the outstanding financial performance of the World Cup which delivered an overall profit of $42.5m,” Baird and Hockley said.

“This helped offset the reduction in media rights and match income in a non-Ashes year, an increase in player payments, strategic investment in the BBL, and higher travel costs post COVID-19.

CA’s Annual Report Highlights

“Given the World Cup’s financial success, we were able to increase funding to states and territories following the reductions required by COVID-19.

“Member funding was up 10.2 per cent on the previous year. After funding to members, the net deficit for the year was $16.9m.”

Hosting the T20 World Cup injected $365.4 million into Australia’s economy, figures suggest.

A record 2.4 million people attended T20 World Cup, BBL and WBBL matches, as well as international fixtures, during the financial year.

Grassroots participation rose by almost 30,000 people as the sport returned to full seasons post-pandemic.

But Baird and Hockley noted “a small decrease in children 11 years old and under – largely the result of the closure of entry-level programs during COVID – emphasises our challenge to increase the number of kids playing cricket”.

“On-field success was complemented by our off-field efforts to secure the game’s future,” they said.

“We launched and completed the first year of our 2022-27 strategic plan, Where The Game Grows.

“This involved securing several key foundational agreements, including our seven-year media rights agreements with the Foxtel Group and Seven West Media, and with Disney Star in India, as well as the new five-year MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the Australian Cricketers’ Association.”

The Foxtel/Seven deal was valued at $1.512 billion over the seven years.

“Having completed the year one ‘secure’ phase we are excited to move to the transformative ‘enhance’ phase of the strategic plan,” Baird and Hockley said.