MELBOURNE, Thursday - Australia’s cricket board have projected a nearly 50% plunge in revenue that underpins player payments as the domestic game struggles to cope with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, local media reported on Thursday.
The Australian newspaper said Cricket Australia’s revenue pool was originally forecast at around A$400 million ($276 million) in the 2020/21 season but had been slashed due to COVID-19’s impact on the schedule.
Players are paid just over a quarter of the revenues as per their revenue-sharing agreement in their collecting bargaining agreement with CA. The players union, the Australian Cricketers’ Association, confirmed that they had received revised revenue projections from CA and would hold a board meeting to discuss them later on Thursday. CA Chief Executive Kevin Roberts said last week the board was facing a shortfall of about A$80 million in revenue due to COVID-19 and there was a high likelihood Australia would not be able to host the Twenty20 World Cup in October-November.
The bleakest scenario looks to have been avoided, however, with India’s lucrative four-test tour, worth an estimated A$300 million in revenue, set to go ahead in the home summer. CA had more than A$90 million in reserves at the end of March but furloughed about 80% of its workforce in April to save some A$3 million in costs, a move that drew widespread criticism.
Several of Australia’s state associations have also made deep staff cuts in recent weeks. – Agencies
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