Cricket Australia loses millions in FY 2022-23 despite hosting Men's T20 World Cup

Cricket Australia published their financial reports for the year 2022-23, where they have reported an expected loss of USD 16.9 million on the back of lower media rights and match revenues during a non-Ashes year. It is to be noted that Cricket Australia reported a loss in a year when they successfully hosted a Men’s T20 tournament which had a good turnout including the 92,000 crowd between the India vs Pakistan match.

Cricket Australia earned USD 43 million from the Men’s T20 tournament which helped them offset their losses to an extent and as a result of the profit from the tournament, there was an increase in the player revenue share and sharing of the upside with states and territories. Cricket Australia's expenses, excluding player payments, increased by 5% due to the full delivery of programs, higher travel costs after COVID-19, and investments in the Big Bash League and the new grassroots cricket system.

Other expenses involve Cricket Australia signing a five-year agreement with the Australian Cricketers' Association that increased payments to contracted women's players from $80 million to $133 million over the life of the agreement. With full seasons played, registered participation rates in community cricket returned to near-record pre-COVID rates, increasing from 598,931 to 627,693.

Numbers are expected to rise in the future

The Big Bash League (BBL) season 11 was once again the most-watched sports league in Australia on a per-game basis on linear TV, with an average of 532,000 viewers. Additionally, the return of full crowds to venues saw a sell-out crowd of 53,866 for the final between the Perth Scorchers and Brisbane Heat at Perth Stadium.

Cricket has reached an important moment with the continued emergence of franchise cricket creating both significant challenges and enormous opportunities as interest in our sport grows.”

“As a global leader, we believe CA is well placed to play a strong role in shaping the future of cricket including fulfilling our commitment to the primacy of Test cricket and maximising the benefits of our status as an Olympic sport to broaden the game’s horizons,” said Mike Baird, CA Chairman.

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley added, “We are immensely proud of the performances of our national teams with the Australian women’s winning Commonwealth Games Gold, a T20 World Cup and retaining both the Ashes and their No.1 position across all formats and the Australian men’s team winning a first World Test Championship and retaining the Ashes; while our national inclusion teams continue to inspire people of all abilities to play cricket.”