(AFP Photo)
For cricket enthusiasts in India, watching major matches during prime time is a familiar routine. However, for fans elsewhere in the world, it often entails waking up at unconventional hours to track their teams’ performances.
Cricket enthusiasts often reminisce about Javed Miandad’s iconic kangaroo jump at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the 1992 World Cup India-Pakistan encounter, a response to Kiran More’s persistent appeals. Indian viewers keen to catch the action woke up as early as 5:30 am for the first ball. The entire ODI World Cup, held in Australia-New Zealand, fell during either sleeping or working hours in India. These were times when the true commercial value of cricket was yet to be fully realized.
Gradually, as Indian broadcast revenue became the backbone of cricket’s global events, every memorable India-Pakistan World Cup moment found its way onto Indian television screens during prime time. From Sachin Tendulkar’s elegant shot over third man against Shoaib Akhtar at Centurion in 2003 to Virat Kohli’s majestic back-foot straight six off Haris Rauf’s bowling at Melbourne in 2022, these moments have been etched in primetime memory. This narrative will repeat itself when Kohli and Rauf renew their rivalry on Sunday, despite the fact that the next chapter of this storied rivalry unfolds miles away in a new pop-up stadium, an hour south of New York.
Disney Star’s substantial investment of US$ 3 billion in Indian viewership contributes a staggering 90% to the International Cricket Council’s media rights revenue. Consequently, every India match in the ongoing T20 World Cup in USA-West Indies is scheduled to commence at 8 pm on Indian television.
For fans outside of India, following their team’s journey in the T20 World Cup isn’t as convenient. Take, for example, the eight teams expected to advance to the Super Eight round. With Sky Sports contributing significantly to the ICC’s revenue stream, supporters of defending champions England have the luxury of watching half of their matches in the evening, including the highly anticipated clash against Australia. However, other matches are scheduled for either the afternoon or late at night.
For Australian fans, supporting their 2021-winning team means preparing plenty of coffee to stay awake for the action against their arch-rivals England, which starts at 3 AM. As for the rest of Australia’s matches, they’ll be played during morning hours Down Under. These timings prioritize the audience’s convenience over advertising slots, which are scarce. As a result, the only way to catch the World Cup live in Australia is by subscribing to Amazon Prime, which holds the live streaming rights, as there were no takers for linear TV rights.
In neighboring New Zealand, cricket enthusiasts find themselves waking up late at night for matches three times, while they have to settle for four afternoon games. Meanwhile, in South Africa, fans have to squeeze in watching Aiden Markram’s side during office hours.
Despite its geographical proximity to India, Sri Lanka struggles to secure significant broadcasting revenue, resulting in most of its matches being scheduled as day-night affairs—unfortunately translating to early mornings for viewers back home.
Following India, Pakistani viewers enjoy the advantage of watching their team play at optimal TV-friendly times. This preference is largely attributed to television viewership statistics, as Pakistan ranked second with 237 billion minutes of live viewing during the 2023 ODI World Cup, trailing only India’s 422 billion minutes, as per ICC data. Cricket holds the top spot in Pakistan’s sports hierarchy, and the country’s demographic advantage also plays a role in this trend. Comparatively, the UK recorded 5.86 billion minutes of live viewing, Australia 3.79 billion, and South Africa 5.01 billion minutes.
While television scheduling plays a crucial role, it’s essential to consider the on-ground atmosphere to enhance the overall appeal of the product. Despite a decline in cricket’s popularity in the West Indies, the hosts prioritize playing matches under lights. This decision aims to create an electrifying ambiance in stadiums, infused with the vibrant spirit of calypso and reggae, adding to the allure of the game.
The prioritization of commercial interests complicates the quest for uniform playing conditions across different cricketing nations. While India, Pakistan, and South Africa gear up for early morning starts, West Indies, Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka are accustomed to night matches. England’s match timings present a mixed bag of scenarios. Additionally, factors like the variable quality of pitches, particularly those in New York where India and South Africa will play three matches each, further challenge the attainment of a level playing field.
“One of the hardest things to do is to finalise a match schedule for World Cups given the number of factors that go into that process from teams to commercial partners to broadcast to hosts to days of the week, teams for particular locations, the logistics to move the teams from venue to venue. There are numerous factors,” said Chris Tetley, ICC’s head of events in a recent media call. “The project gets harder when we have an event split over as many venues, countries and the geographical spread as we have for this event. It is done with all these factors in mind to get the best possible output we could.”
Teams anticipated to exit the tournament early after the initial round have minimal influence on scheduling decisions. This was evident this week when cricket enthusiasts in Uganda woke up to the exciting news of the African nation securing its maiden World Cup victory. In the cricketing world, prioritizing prime time viewing comes at a substantial cost, currently valued at a staggering US$ 3 billion.
