Cricket Australia would not oppose BBL clubs changing their names or colours if sold in a privatisation process, but say mass rebranding is unlikely
Todd Greenberg has flagged it is possible some Big Bash team names and colours could change if the league is privatised, but insists a mass overhaul of club branding is unlikely.
Cricket Australia bosses met with state associations on Wednesday in Adelaide, with the sale of clubs the chief talking point.
As things stand, CA and the states have agreed to pursue the opportunity for privatisation, with an eye to move quickly and be close to a decision in early 2026.
The eight BBL clubs are owned by CA but are effectively leased out to the states with licensing agreements that last another 15 years.
If privatisation went ahead with state agreement, CA would sell a 49 per cent stake of the teams and hand the states equity, ensuring a significant financial windfall for the game.
That stake is similar to the one sold in most Hundred clubs in England this year.
Following that, the Oval Invincibles will be rebranded as MI London next year, and Northern Superchargers as Sunrisers Leeds, to align with their IPL club owners.
Greenberg said it would be up to each BBL franchise to decide if they were open to changing their name in a terms-of-sale agreement, but did not foresee widespread rebranding.
“Personally, I don’t think it’ll get to that, because I think there’s a big difference here. The BBL’s been around 15 years, and these brands are valuable,” Greenberg said.
“They’re well understood by the community. They’ve got big fandom. That’s different to The Hundred. They’ve only been around a couple of years.
“You might see that in one or two, I don’t know. But I think when people come in and look at the valuations, they’re going to look at the value of the brands.
“And I think they’ll want to invest in the brands rather than maybe bring their own.”
AAP understands it is also unlikely CA would want all eight franchises to be sold to overseas franchise owners, with diversification the preferred option.
Greenberg’s comments come as the CA boss revealed his organisation lost about $5 million in profits with the Perth Test finishing in two days.
Unlike days ruined by weather, CA is not insured against Test matches finishing early.
This summer has loomed as crucial for the sport’s finances, after CA announced an $11.3 million loss for last financial year, which included hosting India in five Tests.
Greenberg said the main question from the states had been what the sport would do with the money if the BBL was to be privatised.
Some of the funds would be distributed back to the states, with that figure up for discussion.
The veteran administrator indicated the cash would not be spent or used to purchase assets, but rather left to accrue interest until at least the next broadcast deal in 2031.
“My (thinking) is that we would create some sort of future fund to protect those investments (rather than) spend them,” he said.
“We hold them, generate revenue … and have an agreement with everyone that nothing would be touched until such time as we do a new media deal in 2031, so it’s effectively diversifying our revenues and putting us into a position of strength.”
Greenberg also confirmed that Pakistan players would remain for the entire BBL competition, despite the nation being due to play Sri Lanka in a T20 series in January.
