PCA Members Look Forward To Supporting New Broadcast Package – 17/12/04 The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) acknowledge the formal announcement of the broadcast deal for cricket for 2006 to 2009. The commercial deals bring in a total of up to £ 220 million and we congratulate the negotiating team who have delivered this vital revenue. However, the PCA believes that live international cricket coverage should ideally remain on terrestrial channels. The success of this deal is inextricably linked to the success of the England Team and has secured the financial future of the game for the foreseeable future. These monies will continue to build a successful structure in English cricket from grass roots through to the professional game and the England team. The negotiating team have endured some criticism for favouring subscription access over terrestrial delivery, but this is always a sensitive debate between maximum exposure and bottom line fees. Various reports have suggested that accepting terrestrial bids would have seen a reduction of £ 70 million in the total revenue. C4 not securing the highlights is particularly disappointing however we applaud their outstanding contribution to cricket broadcasting since 1999. Their innovation was mould-breaking taking coverage of our game into the 21st century and we hope they’ll be back in the cricket family in future. C4’s loss is Channel Five’s clear gain – we welcome them into our sport and thank them for coming on board. We look forward to working with them. While not involved in negotiating the broadcast deal, the PCA is offering the broadcasters additional access to our members because we believe we can help deliver a vibrant broadcast property. Leading up to the next broadcast negotiation the game must look carefully at scheduling and whether it can work with and integrate terrestrial delivery in its future broadcast package. Whatever the future holds, the players, as stakeholders, as well as shareholders in the broadcast deal, are determined to foster the best possible relationship with our broadcast partners and to play an even bigger role in how our game is perceived. For further information, please contact; Richard Bevan – 07860 474767 James Hindson – 07866 241241
