 |
| Mike McKenna - who cares about crowds when we have TV |
Friday night at the SCG drew 12 000 and Saturday night at the MCG drew less than 24 000.
Not entirely an successful crowd return for men such as project manager Mike McKenna, one of the few public faces behind the facade of the Big Bash League.
McKenna and Melbourne Stars CEO Clint Cooper, were quick to point out that crowd figures were down because
- it was hot (35C) and who wants to stand around in the heat
- a lot of local cricket club Christmas bbq's would have kept people away
- Rome wasn't built in a day (and the empire didn't last forever either)
- people aren't in the holiday mode yet
Please ... most of have an IQ greater than a fast bowler and wouldn't use toilet paper that thin.
Perhaps if these blokes were fair dinkum, they could add
- removing the warm up game in Sydney which was to feature the Australian women's team and sending it to Drumoyne Oval instead ... surely a big winner among a powerful part of the demographic CA was hoping to further woo
- trying to manufacture tribalism
- relying on the pulling power of ex players at a time when the Australian public - cricket and otherwise - are questioning the continuance of older players in the Test team
- placing a new competition whose sole purpose is to make as much money as possible for all concerned, slap bang in Australian cricket prime time
- expecting crass commercialism to out way regional loyalties
McKenna crowed over the ratings figures (858 000) on Friday night and given this is a sporting event tailored completely for the television market, so he should. Sooner or later, TV audiences will start to notice the lack of bums on seats, despite the clever marking ploy of having an odd patchwork of coloured seats in modern Australia stadiums which fools the eye into seeing the pattern as people, not empty seats. In Brisbane, for the Test against New Zealand, half of the Gabba was closed every day yet long shots didn't reveal that and TV direction was to only show closer shots on the northern half of the ground.
This event was never about crowds anyway. It was first and foremost an exercise in making as much money as possible and the fastest way to do that is to sell your event to television.Therefore, its the TV numbers McKenna and the eight faceless franchisers will be watching because that will keep the big bucks rolling in. Big numbers will bring Nine executives into negotiations for future seasons, not mum's and dad's and the little urchins coming in from the western suburbs and waving flags to support imaginary allegiances.
Who are the people putting up the money behind these teams anyway? A while ago, Cricket Australia was in an urgent hurry to prevent Indian investment in the Big Bash, apparently fearing a repeat of scandals such as those which surround Indian businessman Lalit Modi. As responsible as that may have been, James Sutherland and Cricket Australia have kept franchise owners from the public. You will find the names of chief executives and managers of each team but try finding the identity of the owners. When even Google is boggled, you can be sure they are not for release. So now, the people behind the greatest change in Australian cricket are invisible vapours. Their only credential is money.
In January of course, the crowds will be bigger because there is no other cricket programmed. Cricket Australia has stacked the cards in favour of that outcome. With only only four Test matches being played, Big Bash will literally be the only game in town. Who wants to run Sheffield Shield at a loss when Fox and eventually Nine will pay a fortune for the TV rights to show an eclectic bunch of the world's rejects play backyard bully against our keenest eyed. Don't get me wrong. I love some slap and tickle as well but not when it comes at such a great cost. Whilst everyone makes dosh from this, the future of Australia cricket is being pushed to one side. Cricket Australia, as parents of the game in this country, are encouraging us to eat the ice cream and cake and ignore the vegetables.
So far, it appears Australian are not that stupid.
I hope this is the beginning on the public saying 'enough is enough' of 20/20. Last month's issue of Inside Cricket was entirely devoted to the BBL and the most boring uninformative read I've ever experienced.
ReplyDeleteCA's selective consideration of the Argus' recommendations may come back to bite them. Publicly stating that test cricket is the pinnacle but acting in ways directly in opposition to it is not going unnoticed. 8 weeks of contrived manufactured rubbish will juxtapose the test summer providing players outside the test 11 no opportunity for real cricket. If money doesn't talk, it swears; the profanities surrounding cricket in this country must be flying around like a bird on heat.
it certainly lacked atmosphere being the only 4 people in about 15 bays of the upper level of the GSS on saturday night; considerable better down on the bottom deck where we spent the last 10 overs but that was mainly due to bay 13 being well lubricated on such a barmy night and offering up great entertainment in the forms of fights, cup snakes, ejections and the ever present chant of "YOU ARE A WANKER!"
ReplyDeletei know an (almost) 8 year old that enjoyed it and a 4 year old that though the (pyrotechnic) fireworks were good, but...
one very peculiar senstion was that of going to the G and looking around to see everybody in streetwear. only after the game did we see a few people wearing "Stars" colours/merch- it was certainly something conspicuous in its absence.
some thoughts for mine: for it to take shape in any way it must: be after the Test season- end of Feb/March, get rid of one of the 2 Melbourne and Sydney sides and base them in a regional centre- clearly Geelong and Newcastle. Add 2 NZ teams into the mix. And have double header games.
I like all those ideas Stoph. In Adelaide the grade comp plays the 20/20s regionally which I think is a good idea if you're going to poison cricket with it. 2 Melbourne and Sydney teams seems ludicrous to me. NZ representation would be excellent; it certainly works in soccer and basketball. CA won't garner parochialism with this concept unlike India did with the IPL. It must be remembered that guys like Tendulkar, Dhoni etc didn't really have a choice where they played - it was always going to be the region they came from.
ReplyDeleteAt least there's more chatter about getting rid of international 20/20 and making it franchise only which if you're going to stick with the concept is the way to go in my view.
Double headers make sense but games would have to be held at neutral venues sometimes. If Adelaide has 1 team what franchise would want to play at Adelaide Oval vs another out of town side?