Boards brace for losses
When the mighty Indian cricket board decided this week that only the chief among its national selectors would travel business class, it merely confirmed straitened times for the game amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The uncharacteristic austerity by the world's richest cricket board follows its decision earlier this month to halve the winner's purse at this year's Indian Premier League (IPL), a cash cow with a brand value of $6.8 billion.
The franchise-based Twenty20 league was scheduled to begin on March 29 but has now been postponed until April 15.
To many, a condensed tournament, possibly without foreign players, later this year looks like a more realistic prospect.
A curtailed or cancelled tournament would mean significant losses for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which gets around 400 million rupees ($5.38 million) annually from broadcaster STAR India and its central pool of sponsors.
MONITORING SITUATION
The BCCI and IPL franchises also pay 20% of a player's annual fee to his home board, which stands to lose that money if it does not allow the cricketer into the IPL due to fears about the coronavirus for example.
A shorter tournament will mean a smaller share from the shrunken central pool of revenues for the eight IPL franchises, not to mention a reduction in gate receipts.
Further afield, the Women's Twenty20 World Cup narrowly escaped the health crisis but the outbreak has cast a shadow over the men's event in Australia, which begins on Oct. 18.
The International Cricket Council (ICC), which runs the tournament, said it was monitoring the situation.
Cricket Australia stands to lose some A$300 million ($174 million) should the coronavirus outbreak derail their high-profile home Test series against India later this year.
IN THE BALANCE
In England, the fate of the inaugural 'The Hundred' championship hangs in the balance after the epicentre of the pandemic moved from Asia to Europe, shutting down most sport on the continent.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have invested heavily in promoting the competition in the 100-ball format, which is scheduled to begin on July 17.
"It is clear that every industry, including cricket, will be impacted by this unprecedented situation," Tom Moffat, chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA), told Reuters.
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