Cricket Australia has insisted that privatising the Big Bash League is necessary to ensure the world's best players keep coming to Australia. The governing body is pitching a partial privatisation of its Big Bash teams as it looks to compete with billionaire-backed competitions overseas.
Over its 15-year history, the Big Bash League has grown from what was once dismissed as hit and giggle into big business. It is now described as one of Australian cricket's home-grown money earners, and officials argue the time has come to cash in on that success.
The reasoning, as put by Cricket Australia, is straightforward. To compete on the global stage, the competition has to make sure it has the best players taking part, and to do that it has to make sure there is enough money to pay them. As one official put it, the issue is not much more complex than that.
The sums involved are significant. Upwards of half a billion dollars could be raised through the plan, money that would be aimed at keeping the league competitive against the deep-pocketed rivals drawing talent abroad.
The path to get there, however, has not been smooth. An initial push to sell off 49 percent stakes in the eight Big Bash teams failed to receive unanimous support from the states. In response, a rehashed opt-in model is now being discussed as a possible way forward.
The debate took an unexpected twist during the week when Cricket Victoria moved on the issue ahead of any league-wide approval. The state body went early on a decision to sell off one of its two Big Bash licences, a move that deepened divisions over how the process should unfold.
The states remain split on the broader plan. Some are still against the privatisation, while others are preparing to enter what has been described as cricket's brave new world, leaving the league's future ownership model unresolved for now.