Not a cricket fan, but this was hugely entertaining stuff. A sort of “Do you remember where you were when...” sporting moment, up there with England’s 2003 RWC win, Redgrave winning his fifth gold, and Barry McGuigan beating Pedroza.
The question is - Would we even be chatting about the cricket if C4 hadn't done a one off deal with Sky Sports.
The same applied to the Brtish F1 GP. C4 being allowed to show that was a one off (I think its defined as one of the sporting "crown jewels" that has to be shown free -to-air in the UK).
Either way, the sponsors and advertisers must have been delighted as the live tv audience probably increased 10 fold for both events. Apparently Sky took a slice of the C4's advertsing revenue for the deal to go ahead.
Obviously Sky and BT pay a lot of money for exclusive access for their chosen sports, which is then paid for by viewers who choose to subscribe. There is an argument though that televising it behind paywalls stunts the long term development/health of the game though. I only recognised 3 or so players from the Eng cricket team.
I think PRL have recognised this problem by working with BT and C5 who are given the odd free game to televise.
I'm just hoping that CVC don't drive up the price of the TV contract deal so much that a lot of supporters can't afford to watch club rugby on TV anymore (perhaps game attendances would then increase??).
There is also the prospect of CVC buying into the 6 nations, which will inevitably lead to those games disappearing from free to air as well.
Its a tricky balancing act for sporting organisations who want to maxmise revenue but will also have one eye on interest in the game and its development
Topic: The Cricket World Cup Final (Read 5397 times)
Always a Wasp