You win some, you lose more. For free and confidential support call the number on screen or visit the website.
On a serious note. Very telling article. I think it will go both ways towards privatisation with betting company money funding. Hard as independent franchises to turn down high amounts of money.
Look, no doubt there are good management consultants out there, but I have come across lots of them in the course of my professional life, and they all seem to come up with the same answers: sack some people, and sell the farm. And that makes a kind of sense if you're running a business and you want to maximise your bonus.
But what if your business is running cricket? How does it make sense to sell off the second most profitable of your competitions? Sure, you get the sugar rush of a cash injection and the players can argue that they're entitled to a bigger share of the cash. But to what end? You used to have a competition that made money, while also being able to control your own schedule and players. Sell it off and you lose a revenue stream and control. It just doesn't make sense - especially when you're a not-for-profit organisation.
Mind you, we're in a deeply imperfect world when the alternative involves sports betting. Whatever happened to the old rule, "Never bet on anything that can talk"?
Feeling reminiscent of the old question about “do we do cricket to make money or make some money so we can do cricket?” Why never cricket people running the show and calling in some business folk for advice from time to time, rather than business people running it and paying lip service to some cricket people occasionally? Given who’s in charge, we’re mad if we expect anything else.
And the whole sell off has, to me, echos of govt selling off infrastructure: electricity, water (in England), etc. get a big pile of cash now but then wonder why it goes wrong when the provider of a basic service has as their raison d’etre to make money, not to provide that service…
Wonderful article, thank you Gideon. Thought I may have to read this with rain on the roof. Hoping for less than predicted so the shield gets an uninterrupted run.
I’m ok with whatever choice is made with the Big Bash. As I view it as it is, a way of attracting a different audience to the sport I love. Hopefully they then transition into test cricket, where the pure joy of the contest is learnt.
Agree with you about the BBL bringing a different group into the game you love. But selling (bits of it) off will mean CA no longer has control over their (and our) resources. I dont watch BBL but im glad it exists. I won't be glad it exists if it sprawls all over the calendar and I can't watch top local players play Shield or Test matches....
Brilliant, incisive analysis GH. One of your best. I agree wholeheartedly. And I disagree with the view that it doesn't really matter. Once gambling gets hold of cricket we (the people) will never get it back. Does anyone remember Melbourne before the Casino opened?
While I agree that the proliferation of betting is a plague on sports, I would recommend this article as a counterpoint to the Sucker article. As a piece of story telling Coppins piece is very good; as a piece of journalism, less so.
I'm not sure. I accept the point about the particularities of poker, but Coppins's approach seems more like your average punter's than Konnikova. While Konnikova's book sounds interesting, Coppins seems to see a bigger picture than she does.
Wonderful article. You have explained the perils of cozying up with the gambling industry - but I ask - what is so heinously terrible about selling the franchises, assuming they are sold with certain conditions (such as no exclusion of players from Pakistan, etc etc)?
Franchises will cost either millions or billions. Well, maybe billions will be sometime in the future.
Either way, on the balance of probabilities, investors of such sums will drive a hard bargain on conditions. It might just be they seek a return on their money much more than perceived social benefits.
Well it’s about choices. Of course the more conditions you have, the lower the price you’ll get. But it’s capitalism - everything is negotiable. You just have to figure out what’s valuable to you, and how much you’re willing to sacrifice for those conditions. But those decisions are made every day already - whether to give a game to Bangladesh vs India, or how much T20 to play and when etc etc etc. Just because it’s a “non profit” like CA doing it, the decisions are not fundamentally different. I am not sure what, per se, is the actual evil of private money here. Decide what kind of league you want it to be, what your hard no’s are and what you’re willing to flex on, and see the price you get. If that price is not to your liking, don’t sell….
Thanks Gideon. I have seen my extended family damaged severely by sports betting addiction and to see cricket in bed with the gambling companies is dispiriting to say the least.
Interesting piece and timing, Gideon. I just put together an article on prediction markets, which are arriving fast in the U.S. and sit in a grey zone between betting and fan engagement. Different product structure, but cricket's integrity history means the governance bar has to be the same. Prediction is that Prediction Markets will come and come soon to cricket.
Very interesting article. I haven’t watched football (rugby league) for about 15 years and I hadn’t realised (well, I probably sort of did) that gambling had taken such a hold on proceedings. I’m eternally grateful that I never took up smoking, did drugs (apart from that common drug, alcohol), or had any great interest in gambling, apart from playing the occasional poker machine and lottery ticket, but even they are ancient history.
Frankly, I’m too much of a pessimist to gamble anyway.
What’s the Sportsbet odds for big bash privatisation happening?
"Gamble responsibly."
You win some, you lose more. For free and confidential support call the number on screen or visit the website.
On a serious note. Very telling article. I think it will go both ways towards privatisation with betting company money funding. Hard as independent franchises to turn down high amounts of money.
All very true.
Look, no doubt there are good management consultants out there, but I have come across lots of them in the course of my professional life, and they all seem to come up with the same answers: sack some people, and sell the farm. And that makes a kind of sense if you're running a business and you want to maximise your bonus.
But what if your business is running cricket? How does it make sense to sell off the second most profitable of your competitions? Sure, you get the sugar rush of a cash injection and the players can argue that they're entitled to a bigger share of the cash. But to what end? You used to have a competition that made money, while also being able to control your own schedule and players. Sell it off and you lose a revenue stream and control. It just doesn't make sense - especially when you're a not-for-profit organisation.
Mind you, we're in a deeply imperfect world when the alternative involves sports betting. Whatever happened to the old rule, "Never bet on anything that can talk"?
Feeling reminiscent of the old question about “do we do cricket to make money or make some money so we can do cricket?” Why never cricket people running the show and calling in some business folk for advice from time to time, rather than business people running it and paying lip service to some cricket people occasionally? Given who’s in charge, we’re mad if we expect anything else.
And the whole sell off has, to me, echos of govt selling off infrastructure: electricity, water (in England), etc. get a big pile of cash now but then wonder why it goes wrong when the provider of a basic service has as their raison d’etre to make money, not to provide that service…
Wonderful article, thank you Gideon. Thought I may have to read this with rain on the roof. Hoping for less than predicted so the shield gets an uninterrupted run.
I’m ok with whatever choice is made with the Big Bash. As I view it as it is, a way of attracting a different audience to the sport I love. Hopefully they then transition into test cricket, where the pure joy of the contest is learnt.
Agree with you about the BBL bringing a different group into the game you love. But selling (bits of it) off will mean CA no longer has control over their (and our) resources. I dont watch BBL but im glad it exists. I won't be glad it exists if it sprawls all over the calendar and I can't watch top local players play Shield or Test matches....
Nice opening, Gideon, tell us what you really think :)
Seriously, though, the biggest issue i have is that it looks like CA had already decided to privatise the BBL, before asking for input.
Too right. They tried the Margaret Thatcher TINA: There Is No Alternative.
Brilliant, incisive analysis GH. One of your best. I agree wholeheartedly. And I disagree with the view that it doesn't really matter. Once gambling gets hold of cricket we (the people) will never get it back. Does anyone remember Melbourne before the Casino opened?
While I agree that the proliferation of betting is a plague on sports, I would recommend this article as a counterpoint to the Sucker article. As a piece of story telling Coppins piece is very good; as a piece of journalism, less so.
https://mariakonnikova.substack.com/p/sucker-or-cynic?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
I'm not sure. I accept the point about the particularities of poker, but Coppins's approach seems more like your average punter's than Konnikova. While Konnikova's book sounds interesting, Coppins seems to see a bigger picture than she does.
Fantastic. Thank you Gideon. Couldn’t agree more.
Wonderful article. You have explained the perils of cozying up with the gambling industry - but I ask - what is so heinously terrible about selling the franchises, assuming they are sold with certain conditions (such as no exclusion of players from Pakistan, etc etc)?
Franchises will cost either millions or billions. Well, maybe billions will be sometime in the future.
Either way, on the balance of probabilities, investors of such sums will drive a hard bargain on conditions. It might just be they seek a return on their money much more than perceived social benefits.
Well it’s about choices. Of course the more conditions you have, the lower the price you’ll get. But it’s capitalism - everything is negotiable. You just have to figure out what’s valuable to you, and how much you’re willing to sacrifice for those conditions. But those decisions are made every day already - whether to give a game to Bangladesh vs India, or how much T20 to play and when etc etc etc. Just because it’s a “non profit” like CA doing it, the decisions are not fundamentally different. I am not sure what, per se, is the actual evil of private money here. Decide what kind of league you want it to be, what your hard no’s are and what you’re willing to flex on, and see the price you get. If that price is not to your liking, don’t sell….
Thanks Gideon. I have seen my extended family damaged severely by sports betting addiction and to see cricket in bed with the gambling companies is dispiriting to say the least.
“We’ll all be rooned” said Hanrahan.
Interesting piece and timing, Gideon. I just put together an article on prediction markets, which are arriving fast in the U.S. and sit in a grey zone between betting and fan engagement. Different product structure, but cricket's integrity history means the governance bar has to be the same. Prediction is that Prediction Markets will come and come soon to cricket.
https://eddiefitzgibbon.substack.com/p/prediction-markets-are-coming-for?r=e9xuc
Very interesting article. I haven’t watched football (rugby league) for about 15 years and I hadn’t realised (well, I probably sort of did) that gambling had taken such a hold on proceedings. I’m eternally grateful that I never took up smoking, did drugs (apart from that common drug, alcohol), or had any great interest in gambling, apart from playing the occasional poker machine and lottery ticket, but even they are ancient history.
Frankly, I’m too much of a pessimist to gamble anyway.
sad
Is that your book being reviewed Max ?- if so congratulations
All very sad - turning the fans into gamblers & the players into cheats ??