Global T20 Canada

For discussion of all aspects of Canadian cricket
LeScotsman
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 4:12 pm

Re: Global T20 Canada

Post by LeScotsman » Wed May 30, 2018 1:34 pm

Remember this total farce?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/c ... -1.1174822

In the total absence of numbers, specifics, viable economics, track record, and common sense (let's forget ticket sales and TV rights for the moment), what are the likely scenarios at this point?

Will it move beyond draft day, or is that the point it will be aborted and ''postponed to next year''? Will it pay upfront for any 'marquee' players' airfares and salaries? Will it manage to put in place all the organisational steps listed previously and what happens if it doesn't? Will it manage to get any or all of the 96 players to Toronto and keep them there for 3 weeks in hotels? If actual cricket begins, and the financial losses start mounting rapidly, at what point will the plug be pulled? Are the organisers prepared to lose millions of dollars in the event of failure? If at any point the project is aborted, or financially disastrous, will anyone have come out of it with any financial benefit? Will anyone be left on the hook? Will it end in more massive international news coverage of farcical scenes? Does anyone think this is going to go as planned, cover all expenses, and reap financial returns?

ray
Posts: 720
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 8:46 am
Location: Canada

Re: Global T20 Canada

Post by ray » Wed May 30, 2018 2:50 pm

^ That is the great fear: a repeat of the 2012 Rogers Centre debacle but at least an order of magnitude greater.

One hopes Cricket Canada has learned enough to demand the players' salaries and CC's expenditures were guaranteed before they signed the deal with Mercuri. But who knows?

Mercuri's belief that this tournament can succeed given Canada's track record of supporting big cricket ventures is shocking. However, they knew they would have to provide a huge outlay of cash just to get the tournament off the ground before they saw a dime in sales. If they have that level of confidence, they will probably bring in the players even if pre-sales don't match expectations. So I could see the GT20 Canada starting as scheduled in late June. After that it's anyone's guess.
Last edited by ray on Thu May 31, 2018 7:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

LeScotsman
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 4:12 pm

Re: Global T20 Canada

Post by LeScotsman » Thu May 31, 2018 7:16 pm

Oh my god, have you seen Mercuri's website? This does not fill me with confidence. For a design, marketing and video company, it looks like something knocked up on clipart with a free web template on a weekend.
http://www.mercurimedia.com/aboutus.html

To run a league like this it would require hundreds of employees. No mention of anyone working on it, or hiring in the careers section on Mercuri's website or Cricket Canada's...

ray
Posts: 720
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 8:46 am
Location: Canada

Re: Global T20 Canada

Post by ray » Fri Jun 01, 2018 2:36 pm

Player draft:
X May 30th
X May 31st
X June 1st
O June 3rd (according to video on CC Facebook)

Not encouraging. I know the organizers are under a lot of pressure and adversity to get this tournament up and running but they will have to up their game if they want people to buy the tickets.

LeScotsman
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 4:12 pm

Re: Global T20 Canada

Post by LeScotsman » Fri Jun 01, 2018 2:59 pm

Who on earth are the franchise owners? Is there really a room with 6 billionaires in it, eager to blow millions of dollars in the next few days, pondering over the website registrants, wondering if they bat or bowl, and hoping to negotiate and signs deals with overseas stars?

ray
Posts: 720
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 8:46 am
Location: Canada

Re: Global T20 Canada

Post by ray » Sun Jun 03, 2018 1:34 pm

Draft under way Sunday morning, June 3rd.

People are definitely interested on social media. Looking quickly at the selected players, there probably would not be too many complaints about the name recognition. Certainly not just a smattering of stars and a bunch of no-names.

Should be some interest in cricket-mad countries like Afghanistan and Nepal with player(s) selected. Will it translate to revenue?

Cricket West Indies are providing a large portion of the players over and above the Caribbean Rep. team.

First Canadian chosen appears to be Nikhil Dutta in 7th round. Interesting to see re-emergence of Hiral Patel. Seems to be 21 Canadians selected. Surprised not to see some of the top U19s from our Youth World Cup side included (Khan, Gill and Adhihetty from national team). Also a little surprised not to see Davy Jacobs (former SA pro now living in Canada) involved given his musings about playing for Canada.

Wonder whether selection round corresponds to player salary.

Selections:
Toronto Nationals: Darren Sammy, Steve Smith, Kieron Pollard, Kamran Akmal, Hussain Talat, Rumman Raees, Nikhil Dutta, Johnson Charles, Kesrick Williams, Naved Ahmed, Nizakat Khan, Farhan Malik, Nitish Kumar, Usama Mir, Rohan Mustafa, Mohammad Umair Ghani. Coach: Phil Simmons

Vancouver Knights: Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Evin Lewis, Tim Southee, Chadwick Walton, Fawad Ahmed, Babar Hayat, Sheldon Cottrell, Saad Bin Zafar, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Srimantha Wijeratne, Kamau Leverock, Steven Jacobs, Salman Nazar, Rassie van der Dussen, Jeremy Gordon. Coach: Donovan Miller

Edmonton Royals: Shahid Afridi, Chris Lynn, Luke Ronchi, Mohammad Irfan, Sohail Tanvir, Christiaan Jonker, Wayne Parnell, Asif Ali, Hasan Khan, Agha Salman, Shaiman Anwar, Ammar Khalid, Satsimranjit Dhindsa, Ahmed Raza, Simon Pervez, Abraash Khan. Coach: Mohammad Akram

Montreal Tigers: Lasith Malinga, Sunil Narine, Thisara Perera, Mohammad Hafeez, Denesh Ramdin, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sikandar Raza, Dasun Shanaka, Isuru Udana, George Worker, Najibullah Zadran, Cecil Pervez, Ibrahim Khaleel, Dillon Heyliger, Nicholas Kirton, Rayyan Pathan. Coach: Tom Moody

Winnipeg Hawks: Dwayne Bravo, David Miller, David Warner, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Rayad Emrit, Ben McDermott, Ali Khan, Hamza Tariq, Junaid Siddiqui, Tion Webster, Rizwan Cheema, Hiral Patel, Mark Deyal, Kyle Phillip. Coach: Waqar Younis
Last edited by ray on Mon Jun 04, 2018 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

LeScotsman
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 4:12 pm

Re: Global T20 Canada

Post by LeScotsman » Sun Jun 03, 2018 3:26 pm

Wow, even more expensive! Just taking 4 of the star picks in each team, 4 x 90,000$ salary x 6 teams = 2,160,000$! Before we add in salaries for the next 72 players, 6 coaches, and everything else. Prob $3 million in salaries alone!! Whose credit card is that going on? Even if they sold all 7,000 tickets for all 22 games (which would never happen) it wouldn’t even come close to covering costs.

ray
Posts: 720
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Location: Canada

Re: Global T20 Canada

Post by ray » Sun Jun 03, 2018 7:15 pm

^ Well that's where TV contracts come in. This interview with GT20 Canada CEO Jason Harper indicates they are hoping to sign contracts with South Asian broadcasters soon. You're right, the only way this tournament makes money is based on TV contracts - not gate receipts. It might even be that the TV money subsidizes the ticket price because having a large audience in the stands is vital for atmosphere.

It was clear all along that this venture made no sense if it relied on a Canadian audience. We have to hope that Mercuri has been working on the TV/online streaming contract for months and the fact that things have gotten this far indicates they are confident of getting their price. The alternative would be ugly indeed.

Radio Canada International interview with Jason Harper:
http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2018/05/29/cric ... ournament/

LeScotsman
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Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 4:12 pm

Re: Global T20 Canada

Post by LeScotsman » Sun Jun 03, 2018 10:57 pm

Hoping to close a TV rights deal for three weeks of broadcasting just four weeks from the start of an event without any back up. TV deals have to be negotiated and fixed years in advance. Broadcasters can’t just clear 3 weeks of scheduled programming, or sell all the ad slots within days. Who will be watching Canadian cricket on the other side of the world at 2.30am-5.30am (match times in Mumbai time)? Even if a broadcaster were interested, and could make space, they could offer peanuts. What alternative would the organisers have? For every pay subscription there are thousands of people watching free on illegal streaming. If people in Toronto can get it free on streaming, they are not going to pay for tickets at the ground. Who is going to do all the camera work, TV editing and commentary at the ground? It is a massive and costly operation that can go horribly wrong very quickly. Will it be a fixed camera at one end with no sound? How are the organisers going to pay all those contracts, airfares and accommodation in the next two weeks? How can they possibly close those contracts and confirm those expenses without knowing if there is a TV deal or not, and without a ticket sold?

JSMunn
Site Admin
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Re: Global T20 Canada

Post by JSMunn » Tue Jun 05, 2018 6:24 am

I don't think there's any expectation of making money in the first season, and I'd be surprised if any lucrative TV deal appeared- the challenge will be getting the event shown on TV at all- the South African franchise based T20 plans were derailed by the lack of a TV deal. The idea here, I think, is to establish the event first, then look at making money from it.A lot of money being sunk into this for sure, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out. King City is by no means an ideal venue - hard to get to, a club house and dressing rooms badly in need of renovation, and a challenge to produce pitches of adequate quality. Anyway, it has at least got a lot of coverage of cricket in Canada in the global media. Scotty- the Pirates should offer to play the Montreal franchise in a practice match....

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