Cricket’s push to build a much larger and more diversified global economy is set to move into a key decision-making phase, with the ICC preparing to examine a strategic review from McKinsey & Company during its quarterly meetings in Bali from November 13 to 15, according to a report by Cricbuzz journalist Vijay Tagore.
Commissioned earlier this year, the review examines the future direction of the global game and identifies opportunities to broaden cricket’s commercial base. The ICC is expected to consider a significant number of its recommendations, particularly those dealing with revenue generation and the wider economics of the sport.
Cricket looks beyond its traditional commercial engine
Broadcast rights have long accounted for a major share of cricket’s commercial value, but the concentration of that business among a relatively small number of major media companies has increased the importance of developing alternative sources of income.
Corporate sponsorship represents one avenue under consideration, while data monetisation and mobile gaming could offer longer-term opportunities. The latter two areas would require cricket to develop commercial capabilities that extend beyond its established media-rights model.
In the case of data, the opportunity is not centred on traditional cricket statistics. It involves finding commercial applications for the broader pool of information created through the participation and digital activity of players and supporters around the world. FIFA’s use of data resources provides an existing model from another major global sport.
ICC Chief Executive Officer Sanjog Gupta said at SportsPro London: “Some of these revenue streams are still in their exploratory stage and will be only unlocked once cricket’s structures evolve with developments in the world of technology and what they enable in terms of consumption.”
Gupta noted: “They [the revenue streams] will come to bear only in the next three to five years.”
ICC sets sights on a much larger cricket economy
The commercial review comes alongside an ambitious growth target for the global game. Cricket currently generates an estimated US$3.5 billion to US$3.8 billion annually worldwide, with the ICC seeking to increase that figure to US$10 billion per year over the next decade.
Gupta added: “Cricket is a deeply under-leveraged sport as far as its commercial value is concerned, and that is largely on account of how dependent or how focused it has been on the growth of media rights revenues.”
The longer-term strategy is therefore not simply about finding a replacement for broadcasting income. It involves building additional commercial channels around a sport whose existing revenues remain heavily concentrated in media rights, while adapting to broader changes in how value is created and distributed across the sports industry.
Global expansion forms another part of growth strategy
Increasing cricket’s economic footprint will also require growth beyond its established strongholds. China, Indonesia, Brazil and the United States are among the populous markets identified as having development potential, while India is expected to retain its position as the largest contributor to the global cricket economy.
The women’s game represents another major element of that expansion. The ICC has set an objective of making cricket the world’s most popular women’s sport, placing its continued development alongside commercial diversification and geographic growth within the governing body’s longer-term plans.
Taken together, those ambitions would require cricket to extract greater commercial value from its established markets while building audiences and participation in territories where the sport currently has considerably more room to expand.
Playing calendar could evolve alongside commercial strategy
Changes to the international calendar are also being considered within cricket’s broader strategic direction following recent Future Tours Programme discussions in Dubai.
More multilateral fixtures and additional T20 internationals have been encouraged, while the number of bilateral ODIs could decline. The ICC cannot determine that balance alone, however, because bilateral and multilateral fixtures remain under the control of the individual cricket boards involved.
The November meetings will give the ICC leadership an opportunity to determine which elements of McKinsey’s strategic review should move forward. The decisions taken in Bali could establish the next steps in a longer-term effort to expand cricket’s commercial base, develop new markets and move the global game towards its US$10 billion annual economic target.
