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A new domestic T20 competition in England may be as many as three seasons away as the England and Wales Cricket Board revealed they are targeting the year 2020 to launch their new T20 competition that is currently planned to comprise eight regional teams and 35 matches.
The ECB divulged considerable detail regarding the future of domestic T20 cricket in England at a member's forum at Leicestershire earlier this month.
ECB Chief Operating Officer, Gordon Hollins and Head of Commercial Partnerships, Mike Fordham made a presentation at the forum and took questions from Leicestershire's members. Similar details were also revealed at a member's forum at Sussex where ECB Commercial Director, Sanjay Patel, Head of Marketing, Rob Calder and Fordham appeared.
After a meeting in mid-September at Lord's between the 18 first-class counties, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the ECB, in which it was agreed that the ECB should further explore the options for a new T20 tournament, the board has been discussing the details of such a competition with the counties. The ECB's candidness at both member's forums has shed some light on the details of the plans that were previously unclear.
Hollins revealed that 2020 was the target date for the launch of the new competition. "2020 is the current thinking," he told Leicestershire's members. "Our current broadcast rights run until the end of 2019, so the obvious time would be 2020 so that allows us time to make sure the game is organised properly."
A launch date of 2020 is later than the 2018 date reports had previously suggested and indicates that the ECB are facing difficulties persuading the counties.
The other significant development is that the ECB sees the new tournament as one involving regional teams. Although matches in the new competition are likely to be largely played in city venues, the ECB appears keen to emphasise the regional characteristics of the tournament, in which players may be organised into teams by geographical region while some county sources have suggested matches could be played at Category A and B venues, meaning there could be as many as eleven host venues.
"All of the counties are involved in this competition," explained Hollins. "So whilst there will be some venues, probably the bigger venues, that will stage matches, it will be venue-based competition not county-based competition and that's a really important distinction."
Hollins indicated that host venues would not blindly be allocated to Test match grounds. "We will adopt an insight led approach to venue selection for games in this new tournament. We will conduct market-sizing to look at the size of the market at each of the venues to allocate them We will try and conduct the most thorough market research we can to create brands that resonate in the areas," he said.
Wherever the matches are played, Hollins said that the competition will be "owned" by the 18 first class counties. "All of the counties would effectively be shareholders from it and would benefit directly from the competition," he said. "Our current thinking is that all the central revenues: broadcast, sponsorship and the ticketing would go into a central-pot and then once the cost of covering the competition has been covered each county would receive a central distribution from that pot."
Fordham revealed that each county would receive about 1.3 million from the ECB as part of an estimated 40 million that the new competition would make. That money would go "straight down to the counties and some to the recreational game."
Current plans envisage each team having three overseas players per squad but the ECB is keen to stress that details are in early stages. The board also confirmed that the existing 18-team county competition, the NatWest T20 Blast, would be preserved, albeit in an adjusted structure of three regional groups of six counties who will play each other home and away with Quarter Finals and Finals Day totalling 97 matches. The dates and days of that tournament are likely to remain the same - "probably played in June and July, largely on Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays," explained Hollins.
The ECB is keen for the T20 Blast to still be televised, with Hollins admitting "it is important for sponsorship and for clubs to have their games on TV."
Hollins suggested that it would be "mad" to look to grow the game by getting rid of a competition. "If you do the maths, if you had just one competition, you will have less people watching T20 cricket than [you would with two]. That has to be mad."
Hollins also assured those counties who may not be hosts in the new tournament that the ECB would not in any way reduce the existing annual remuneration from the board to the counties. The board also, Hollins said, would not allow the T20 Blast to be diminished by the new competition with a clear marketing policy to eventually guide new fans towards the existing county game.
The rationale behind having two competitions is that they will be clearly targeted at different audiences. "We would maintain a vibrant T20 competition aimed largely at existing cricket fans: people like ourselves," said Hollins. "But we would build a new T20 competition later in the summer aimed at a more diverse, family audience."
"The implementation of the two competitions would be differentiated at every level. We would market them differently. We would target them at different fans. We would conduct segmentation and market research about the best way to target different fans for different competitions. So there would be two competitions with distinct roles. We think that both can thrive."
At the forum, Hollins also admitted that the ECB is exploring options that will ensure cricket is still played around the venues not included in the new competition. One possibility is that the County Championship could be played through August while another is a new limited overs competition, possibly involving minor counties.
http://m.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/...lans-new-t20-tournament-may-be-held-from-2020
The ECB divulged considerable detail regarding the future of domestic T20 cricket in England at a member's forum at Leicestershire earlier this month.
ECB Chief Operating Officer, Gordon Hollins and Head of Commercial Partnerships, Mike Fordham made a presentation at the forum and took questions from Leicestershire's members. Similar details were also revealed at a member's forum at Sussex where ECB Commercial Director, Sanjay Patel, Head of Marketing, Rob Calder and Fordham appeared.
After a meeting in mid-September at Lord's between the 18 first-class counties, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the ECB, in which it was agreed that the ECB should further explore the options for a new T20 tournament, the board has been discussing the details of such a competition with the counties. The ECB's candidness at both member's forums has shed some light on the details of the plans that were previously unclear.
Hollins revealed that 2020 was the target date for the launch of the new competition. "2020 is the current thinking," he told Leicestershire's members. "Our current broadcast rights run until the end of 2019, so the obvious time would be 2020 so that allows us time to make sure the game is organised properly."
A launch date of 2020 is later than the 2018 date reports had previously suggested and indicates that the ECB are facing difficulties persuading the counties.
The other significant development is that the ECB sees the new tournament as one involving regional teams. Although matches in the new competition are likely to be largely played in city venues, the ECB appears keen to emphasise the regional characteristics of the tournament, in which players may be organised into teams by geographical region while some county sources have suggested matches could be played at Category A and B venues, meaning there could be as many as eleven host venues.
"All of the counties are involved in this competition," explained Hollins. "So whilst there will be some venues, probably the bigger venues, that will stage matches, it will be venue-based competition not county-based competition and that's a really important distinction."
Hollins indicated that host venues would not blindly be allocated to Test match grounds. "We will adopt an insight led approach to venue selection for games in this new tournament. We will conduct market-sizing to look at the size of the market at each of the venues to allocate them We will try and conduct the most thorough market research we can to create brands that resonate in the areas," he said.
Wherever the matches are played, Hollins said that the competition will be "owned" by the 18 first class counties. "All of the counties would effectively be shareholders from it and would benefit directly from the competition," he said. "Our current thinking is that all the central revenues: broadcast, sponsorship and the ticketing would go into a central-pot and then once the cost of covering the competition has been covered each county would receive a central distribution from that pot."
Fordham revealed that each county would receive about 1.3 million from the ECB as part of an estimated 40 million that the new competition would make. That money would go "straight down to the counties and some to the recreational game."
Current plans envisage each team having three overseas players per squad but the ECB is keen to stress that details are in early stages. The board also confirmed that the existing 18-team county competition, the NatWest T20 Blast, would be preserved, albeit in an adjusted structure of three regional groups of six counties who will play each other home and away with Quarter Finals and Finals Day totalling 97 matches. The dates and days of that tournament are likely to remain the same - "probably played in June and July, largely on Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays," explained Hollins.
The ECB is keen for the T20 Blast to still be televised, with Hollins admitting "it is important for sponsorship and for clubs to have their games on TV."
Hollins suggested that it would be "mad" to look to grow the game by getting rid of a competition. "If you do the maths, if you had just one competition, you will have less people watching T20 cricket than [you would with two]. That has to be mad."
Hollins also assured those counties who may not be hosts in the new tournament that the ECB would not in any way reduce the existing annual remuneration from the board to the counties. The board also, Hollins said, would not allow the T20 Blast to be diminished by the new competition with a clear marketing policy to eventually guide new fans towards the existing county game.
The rationale behind having two competitions is that they will be clearly targeted at different audiences. "We would maintain a vibrant T20 competition aimed largely at existing cricket fans: people like ourselves," said Hollins. "But we would build a new T20 competition later in the summer aimed at a more diverse, family audience."
"The implementation of the two competitions would be differentiated at every level. We would market them differently. We would target them at different fans. We would conduct segmentation and market research about the best way to target different fans for different competitions. So there would be two competitions with distinct roles. We think that both can thrive."
At the forum, Hollins also admitted that the ECB is exploring options that will ensure cricket is still played around the venues not included in the new competition. One possibility is that the County Championship could be played through August while another is a new limited overs competition, possibly involving minor counties.
http://m.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/...lans-new-t20-tournament-may-be-held-from-2020
