Monday, January 23, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Cricket's winning sales pitch
Marketers and their CEOs everywhere are watching what James Sutherland and Mike McKenna are doing to Australian cricket and taking notes, and not just because they like the game.
Sutherland and McKenna, CEO and head of marketing respectively at Cricket Australia, are completely transforming the sport's demographics and revenues - almost entirely through marketing.
In the process they are having a big impact on the broadcasting business as well.
It is a fascinating demonstration of the enduring power of a well-constructed marketing strategy, as well as the importance of live sport in the age of digital media.
Whatever the Test cricket purists might think of the Big Bash League (and count yours truly among them), it is clearly working.
The gate crowds are already beating rugby league and the pay TV audience is averaging 293,000 per game.
Foxtel's ratings are up 20 per cent purely because of Twenty20 cricket.
Cricket Australia had two problems: the audience was skewed towards older males and the main "product" involved games against other countries that were hard to control - that is, they could only happen when the other national teams were available.
Cricket is apparently Australia's most popular sport, but only among those over 25 and the followers are, or rather were, two-thirds male.
Among 15-25 year olds and women, the feedback was that the games just took too long.
There had been a Twenty20 state competition going for five years, but it was limping along, failing to get much traction.
In August last year Cricket Australia received a report on the game from Don Argus and then the first ever national conference of all state and territory associations was held to discuss the future.
Out of that came a reconstructed 20-over competition with eight teams instead of six (two from NSW and Victoria) and each with new names and uniforms, and a smattering of star players like Shane Warne and the West Indies' Chris Gayle.
A salary cap of $1 million, in total, per team was set, but that only applies to cash direct from the club.
The big-name players are able to get much more from sponsorships and other payments.
Matthew Dwyer, the national sales director of Mars Confectionary, was brought in to run the sales and marketing effort and he quickly put together a team of 17 marketers and sales executives. By the way, Dwyer was chosen because he knows how to market to kids.
To help fund them it was decided to sell up to 49 per cent equity in two of the teams - Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Thunder - to investors. Credit Suisse was hired to do that and Information Memoranda were circulated among potential investors.
But unlike the Indian sale of IPL franchises, the process didn't attract very big offers, perhaps because control was not on offer - only a minority stake.
Also there was a risk that the cricket business would entirely lose its not-for-profit status for tax purposes if part of the game operated at a profit to service outside investors.
Anyway, Cricket Australia and the six state associations that own CA decided not to go ahead with the sales, and to retain full ownership of all eight teams (although most have outside directors).
Now McKenna says it's likely that none of the teams will be sold at all and that they will eventually be set up as clubs. Memberships in some of the teams are already being sold.
The result, however, is that the $15-20 million needed to fund the Big Bash League has had to come entirely from Cricket Australia's resources, which has been a strain.
One of the differences between cricket and other sports is that the contracted players get a fixed percentage (26 per cent) of revenue, shared 55/45 between the national and state players.
It means, in effect, that the organisers and marketers of the sport are in a joint venture with the players and their own organisation, the Australian Cricketers Association, and everyone is highly motivated to get the revenue up.
Another thing the success of the Big Bash League has created for Cricket Australia is a lot of complexity: most sports have just one game with same rules played at various levels - local, state, national and international.
Cricket has all those levels, plus three different games - five-day Tests, one-day games, both international and domestic, and 20-over games. They all use bats and balls, but the different lengths create entirely different games.
As you'd expect from marketers, the team at Cricket Australia sees this as an opportunity, not a problem.
"We had Coke, then Diet Coke, and now we've got Coke Zero," said one.
And it's true: cricket is in the unique position of having several different games to appeal to different audiences, including one that is obviously attracting the next generation while they hang onto old guys like me.
Maybe one of the forms of the game will eventually fade and die (most likely 50-over one-day cricket), but so far it's still rating well and attracting crowds.
And as we all know, customers are always right.
Alan Kohler is Editor in Chief of Business Spectator and Eureka Report, as well as host of Inside Business and finance presenter on ABC News. View his full profile here.
Tags: business-economics-and-finance, cricket, sport, economic-trends, twenty20 First posted January 11, 2012 08:41:43Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Australia stick with winning formula
Australia has announced an unchanged side for the second Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground, beginning on Tuesday.
Fast bowler Ryan Harris, who did not recover from injury in time to be part of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, has been named as the 12th man.
There had been speculation that Harris may be part of an all-pace attack for the 100th Test at the SCG which has lost its reputation as a turning wicket in recent years.
Instead spinner Nathan Lyon retains his place in the line-up despite appearing a minimal threat to the Indian batsmen and taking figures of one for 91 in Melbourne.
"Same team as Melbourne, so tough call on Rhino (Harris)," Clarke said, at his pre-match press conference at the SCG.
"He's been a wonderful bowler for us and I love having him in and around the group and it was tough to leave him out but we've stuck with the winning team in Melbourne.
"I think the way we performed in Melbourne, it's tough to change that team.
"We've had a long enough break as well and that was probably the other consideration.
"Finishing the game a day early and the bowlers not bowling too many overs in the second innings has certainly helped them."
Clarke played down suggestions that 21-year-old James Pattinson is now the leader of the bowling attack, insisting that he, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus are equal partners - evidencing their even distribution of wickets in the first Test.
"Patto is just starting, he's a wonderful talent don't get me wrong but I'd hate to see us put extra pressure on him," Clarke said.
"He's got a good crew around him as well ... I think we're building a good crew of fast bowlers and they are all just as vital as each other, I don't think there's one that is above the rest.
"They're all very talented and we need every single one of them to continue to perform if we're to go forward in Test cricket.
Australia leads the four-match series 1-0 after inflicting a 122-run defeat on India in the first Test.
Tags: sport, cricket, sydney-2000, nsw, australia First posted January 02, 2012 11:46:09Thursday, December 29, 2011
Hurricanes boast winning BBL formula
Hobart Hurricanes captain Xavier Doherty was not surprised when no-one hailed his outfit as Big Bash League contenders.
"Probably at the start of the series, no-one really talked about us," Doherty said.
"No-one really does talk about Hobart, that is just the way it is and we accept that."
But three consecutive wins have Hobart not only BBL pacesetters, but standard setters.
Doherty, who took a masterly 4 for 17 in Hobart's 14-run victory over Adelaide Strikers on Wednesday night, is the competition's most economical bowler.
The second and third most miserly are his team-mates, Rhett Lockyear and Ben Hilfenhaus.
The Hurricanes boast the tournament's top run-scorer in Travis Birt (149 runs), with team-mate Phil Jaques third.
And Hobart's star import, Pakistani pacer Rana Naved, has taken the most wickets so far, with Doherty second.
Little wonder Doherty says the Hurricanes are riding a wave of confidence.
"Winning becomes a bit of a habit and at the moment we're winning and it's pretty good," he said.
"Guys are playing with confidence, which is a massive part of Twenty20."
Hobart's batting has been underpinned by Jaques' consistency and Birt's aggression with a common theme of steady, rather than blazing, starts to their innings.
"We probably don't have the superstars at the top of the order to go really hard," Doherty said.
"I'm sure at some stage this tournament we will get off to a bit of a flyer but so far it's more just six, seven runs an over.
"But more often than not, we have got wickets in hand and that is the main thing."
Hobart host the Chris Gayle-powered Sydney Thunder, who are undefeated from two games, on New Year's Day.
AAP
Tags: sport, cricket, australia, tas, hobart-7000 First posted December 29, 2011 14:19:47Thursday, December 8, 2011
Aussies stick with winning XI
The axe may not have fallen on Phil Hughes for the second trans-Tasman Test but the besieged Australian opener will hardly be breathing a sigh of relief.
Australian captain Michael Clarke scuppered talk of another fitness setback for Shane Watson, saying the all-rounder would be back by the Boxing Day Test against India - even if only used as an opener.
And the looming return of batsman Shaun Marsh from a back complaint only compounded the fact that Hughes needed a big score against New Zealand in Hobart to keep his Test career alive.
But a last chance to impress was almost taken away from Hughes, with Clarke admitting there was a "long debate" about injecting all-rounder Dan Christian into the second Test which starts on Friday.
Christian's inclusion would have made him only the second Indigenous player to play Test cricket for Australia - and probably would have spelt the end for Hughes.
If Christian had played, the out-of-sorts Hughes loomed as the likely omission with Australia's other batsmen moving up a rung in the order.
A green Bellerive deck finally convinced selectors they would not require a fourth bowler, ensuring Christian was made 12th man.
In the end, selectors stuck with the same XI that thrashed New Zealand by nine wickets in Brisbane - but the spotlight remained firmly on Hughes.
His unusual technique has led to him being caught behind the wicket 19 out of 29 dismissals in his 16-Test career.
Not surprisingly Hughes was one of only a handful of Australians in the nets on Thursday in an optional training session.
"He wants to get better - I am confident with that attitude he will play more Test matches for Australia," Clarke said of Hughes.
Asked if there was more pressure on batsmen to perform in Hobart with Watson and Marsh's return imminent, Clarke said: "Not at all.
"(But) it is going to be difficult for the batters on day one - it's going to be a good test if we do bat tomorrow."
Hughes looks set to be tested early in Hobart.
Despite admitting he had never seen a grassier Hobart deck, Clarke could not quite bring himself to say he would bowl first if he won the toss.
That could ensure a tough opening period for the Australian openers - particularly Hughes.
"Overhead conditions will play a part ...(but) the two things I find hard are bowling first when I win the toss and not picking a spinner," Clarke said.
Clarke confirmed Watson had suffered a calf strain while recovering from a hamstring complaint but said it had only set the all-rounder back "a couple of days".
"We are confident he will be right for Boxing Day," Clarke said.
And Clarke hinted Watson may just come back in the Boxing Day Test as a batsman - more specifically an opener.
"I think his batting is a very big part of this team, especially opening at the top of the order," he said.
"If he is batting I can still see him in our team but best-case scenario I would love him to bowl as well."
Australia has not lost any of the nine Tests played in Hobart since the first in 1989.
The second Test against the Black Caps starts on Friday at 10.30am (AEDT) with live coverage on ABC Local and Digital Radio and online.
Australia: David Warner, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (capt), Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Dan Christian (12th man)
AAP
Tags: sport, cricket, hobart-7000, tas, australia, new-zealand First posted December 08, 2011 11:59:58Thursday, April 21, 2011
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Thursday, April 14, 2011
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