International sports marketing agency Octagon has joined hands with Cricket Australia (CA) to help the cricket board with its marketing strategies and media rights ventures in North America and the Caribbean Islands.
Octagon will assist CA to explore the markets especially in the US and Canada, where cricket is still not one of the major sports and help expand the reach of the game. As part of the agreement, Octagon will look after the research and analysis of media rights, their distribution, packaging and negotiation process in the aforementioned region, and provide relevant data to CA for further commercial purposes.
Cricket Australia’s Head of Media Rights, Nikki Linney shared her thoughts on the occasion of the announcement of this partnership and said: “As a leader in international sports media consulting, we’re looking forward to Octagon helping us connect with new fans of our men’s and women’s national teams in new markets and continue to grow the game of cricket across the globe.”
Before this agreement with Octagon, Cricket Australia signed deals with NBC Sports Network and Willow TV to broadcast its cricket matches in the US. Whereas, Asian Television Network in Canada, grabbed the rights for Australia’s home international matches and its premier domestic T20 competition, the Big Bash League. Meanwhile, Australian cricket has been telecasted on International Media Content’s SportsMax pay-TV platforms in the Caribbean.
The above deals ran from the 2016/17 season to the end of the 2020/21 Australian cricket season which saw India winning the test series 2-1 in a dramatic finish at the Gabba in Brisbane. Therefore, there was a need for CA to find a new partner to assist them with their market in North America and the Caribbean Islands.
Octagon’s senior vice-president of media rights Consulting, Daniel Cohen, in an interview said he was convinced of the plans discussed with CA. He also reiterated the fact there is a ‘growing demand for elite cricket’ in the continent of North America. The game is growing at a rapid pace and more viewers are getting attracted to the sport.
Octagon’s global media rights department has advised on more than $5 billion worth of deals for sports organisations including the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and WWE.
Presently, the Australian Cricket Team is on the West Indies tour for a bilateral series that includes 5 T20Is and 3 ODIs. The Aussies suffered a major thrashing at the hands of West Indies in the T20 series as they lost 4-1. The Aussies bounced back and won the first ODI comprehensively. This particular series is being broadcasted by Australia’s Foxtel Group. The pay-television broadcaster will telecast it on its Fox Cricket channel and Kayo Sports streaming service.