Amazon this week announced a deal that will make it the exclusive home of ICC cricket in Australia for the next four years for both the men’s and women’s ICC codes.
Previously those rights were mixed, with Nine showing games in which Australia was playing while Foxtel/Kayo showed the rest of the ICC field. From January 2024, it’s going to all be on Amazon Prime.
Sports is big business in Australia, and most prominently so because of the huge money deals that can be made for broadcast rights to professional grade matches of just about any major code.
Sports are also one of the few areas left where there’s only a smattering of streaming players in the Australian market. Kayo is the most prominent, of course, and then there’s Stan Sport (owned by Nine, also Gizmodo Australia’s parent company), but for the other big players such as Netflix or Disney+, live sport in Australia hasn’t really been a significant focus.
How Much Will It Cost To Watch ICC Cricket on Amazon Prime in Australia?
Amazon isn’t planning on charging any extra for its ICC cricket coverage, beyond the $9.99/month (or $79 annually) it charges for an Amazon Prime subscription in Australia… and maybe a little more in 2024 if you don’t pay for an ad-free Prime Video experience.
Will Amazon Show All The ICC Cricket?
It seems as though that’s the plan, with the official announcement noting that Amazon has secured the rights over four years for some 448 live games, including the Men’s and Women’s Cricket World Cups, T20 World Cups, Champions Trophy, U19s and the World Test Championship Final.
Amazon’s claim is that it’ll offer them “on demand”, which suggests – but doesn’t confirm – that it may offer an archive or channel of content, unlike some of its prior deals like the one it held for select NFL games a few years back, which were streamed live only.
Isn’t Cricket One Of Those Protected Sports That HAS To Be On Free-To-Air TV?
Here you’re thinking of the anti-siphoning list, first brought in all the way back in 1992, when the issue wasn’t one of streaming services snaffling up sports rights, but instead subscription TV. Cricket is indeed on that list. Here’s the current wording as it applies to the anti-siphoning list:
Cricket
(1) Each test match that:
(a) involves the senior Australian representative team selected by Cricket Australia; and
(b) is played in Australia.
(2) Each test match that:
(a) involves both:
(i) the senior Australian representative team selected by Cricket Australia; and
(ii) the senior English representative team; and
(b) is played in the United Kingdom.
(3) Each one day cricket match that:
(a) involves the senior Australian representative team selected by Cricket Australia; and
(b) is played in Australia.
(4) Each Twenty20 (T20) cricket match that:
(a) involves the senior Australian representative team selected by Cricket Australia; and
(b) is played in Australia.
(5) Each match of the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup that:
(a) involves the senior Australian representative team selected by Cricket Australia; and
(b) is played in Australia or New Zealand.
(6) The final of the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup if the final is played in Australia or New Zealand.
(7) Each match of the International Cricket Council T20 World Cup that:
(a) involves the senior Australian representative team selected by Cricket Australia; and
(b) is played in Australia or New Zealand.
(8) The final of the International Cricket Council T20 World Cup if the final is played in Australia or New Zealand.
Source: Broadcasting Services (Events) Notices 2023
The key criteria likely to come into play there are all those section (b) parts, where matches must be played in Australia to qualify as protected. The next ODI International World Cup, in 2027 is taking place in Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, so it would not qualify under the anti-siphoning list, to be clear.
Not surprisingly, the free to air broadcasters aren’t exactly thrilled by the Amazon news. Bridget Fair, Free TV CEO said in a statement that
““All Australians deserve the right to share our great sporting moments for free, and that right is in serious jeopardy. There is a real risk that more of our iconic sports events could be exclusively acquired by subscription streaming platforms that aren’t currently covered by the anti-siphoning rules.”
She also noted that current proposals to modify the anti-siphoning rules to incorporate the more contemporary streaming-centric landscape might go some way to mitigating the issue:
“The Government’s new Bill introduced last week to expand the current anti-siphoning rules to subscription streaming services is an important new measure, and this deal shows there is no time to waste in getting the Bill passed. The anti-siphoning rules urgently need to be updated to protect our access to live and free sport – it’s part of the Australian way of life.
However the Bill has a glaring oversight with the failure to include free streaming rights in the proposed model. Australians should be able to watch key sporting events whether they choose to access their free TV services through terrestrial broadcast or online streaming, and this should be rectified before the Bill is passed.
It might also be time to look at whether the limitation of cricket games on the list to those played in Australia or New Zealand is working for the Australian public. We should be able to watch our national team play no matter where the game is taking place.”