Seven and Foxtel won't pay full rights fee to Cricket Australia as broadcast dispute escalates

Channel Seven and Foxtel will not pay their full broadcast rights instalment of A$55 million to Cricket Australia for September, with the free-to-air network going as far as to suggest its partial payment of the A$25 million it owed would be its one and only fee handed over for the entire summer.

In an incendiary move at the end of a winter in which the networks have consistently harried CA for a rights discount in the time of coronavirus – without necessarily having a clear contractual basis on which to do so – Seven and Foxtel have effectively challenged the governing body to pursue legal options to recoup its agreed fees, or come to the negotiating table.

CA, which has been awaiting the networks’ choice of action on the due date for its next rights instalment, has stood by the soundness of its legal position. This is based on the contention that there is no discount required besides those increments already inked into the A$1.18 billion rights deals settled with Seven and Foxtel in 2018 in the event of any reduction in content.

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Those clauses have already applied to Fox Sports, given the postponement of scheduled white-ball matches against New Zealand, Zimbabwe and the West Indies this year, while the domestic limited-overs tournament and the annual Prime Minister’s XI game are all more or less guaranteed to be missing from the fixture this season.

However, Seven’s deal to cover Test matches and the majority of the BBL and WBBL have yet to be cut back, meaning the failure to pay the full instalment on Tuesday may be interpreted as a contractual breach. The network’s outspoken chief executive, James Warburton, delivered a statement on Tuesday claiming that this was not the case, due to Seven’s notice last week that it sought to enter into a dispute resolution process with CA over an independent assessment of the rights value.

“Putting aside the questions of breach, in accordance with the contract Seven has invoked the right to appoint an independent expert to determine the fair value of the media rights against the expected schedule for the season compared to the originally published schedule,” Warburton said. “Seven has paid the first instalment reflecting our fair value.”

CA has been contacted for comment.

More to come