Johannesburg - From a company chaired by the 11th richest person in the world, a mass media corporation that runs over 30 TV channels, to one of the world’s largest steel companies and even Rupert Murdoch’s son, the owners of South Africa’s latest attempt at a T20 League are a diverse bunch.
What they do have in common is that they are rich – in some cases very rich. They are not afraid to take a gamble, but they’re not reckless. As far as South African cricket is concerned they’re the sport’s saviours.
Reliance Industries, owners of the Mumbai Indians who successfully bid to run the Cape Town franchise, were the first Indian company to cross $100-billion in revenue in the financial year that ended in March this year. The company is chaired by Mukesh Ambani, whose net worth is reported to be in the region of $86.3-billion, making him the 11th-richest person in the world.
About 60km up the way from Cape Town, the Paarl-based team was bought by the Royals Sports Group, the owners of the Rajasthan Royals, for whom the new league’s commissioner, Graeme Smith, was a star performer in the inaugural season of the IPL. One of Royals Sports Group’s shareholders is Lachlan Murdoch, heir to the News Corporation empire that, among other things, owns The Sun newspaper in the UK and The Wall Street Journal in the US. The younger Murdoch is also the chief executive of the Fox Corporation, that runs the controversial Fox News channel in the US.
He holds a 13% stake in the Royals Sports Group, with the majority shareholder being Manoj Badale, a venture capitalist with a net worth in the region of $160-million. Another shareholder in the Royal Sports Group is Redbird Capital, which manages assets totalling $6bn and is a shareholder in Fenway Sports Group Holdings, the owner of English Premier League football club Liverpool FC and the Boston Red Sox US baseball team.
RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG), which will own the Durban franchise, is an Indian multinational conglomerate. Its ownership ranges from tyre companies, electrical companies and a music company; its revenues are in the region of $3bn. The company runs the newly established Lucknow SuperGiants, which had Quinton de Kock on its books.
The largest bid was for the team based in Johannesburg, which went to the Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd, the company that runs the Chennai IPL franchise. The majority shareholder in that company is Indian Cements Shareholder Trust. Indian Cements itself is run by the former BCCI president, N. Srinivasan.
Gqeberha’s franchise will be run by Sunrisers Hyderabad owners Sun TV Networks, which holds total assets of $1bn, while the team based at SuperSport Park in Centurion will be run by JSW Sports, whose parent company JSW Steel holds assets in China, the US and Mozambique, with revenues last year totalling $19bn.
Smith is right to feel chuffed about the ownership. Cricket SA’s stated ambition for the competition is that it should be the second-biggest T20 league in the world after the IPL. It will never garner broadcast and streaming rights in the region of $6bn as the IPL did earlier this year, but in forging close ties with owners of that lucrative league, the South African league is putting itself in a position to leverage off that competition.
As one senior administrator, speaking on condition of anonymity, put it this week: “The only people who can stuff this up are us as administrators.” And to be honest, Cricket SA have stuffed up previously, so while there is excitement in local cricket circles, there is also, understandably, lots of caution.
It does appear that CSA has learned the lessons from the failures of its two previous attempts at establishing a local league. The Global League T20 fell apart because of the absence of a broadcast deal, while the Mzansi Super League was ambitious, but couldn’t get off the ground properly because of a lack of trust in the previous administration.
Smith brings gravitas in his new role. He is the type of person the owners want to shake hands with and have their picture taken alongside. He has good relationships with senior officials
in India, something that played an important role in South Africa getting India to tour here last year, while enough current players know him and will feel comfortable taking his word to sign up for the new league.
In his current role he’ll answer not to CSA’s board, but to a “Special Purpose Vehicle Company”, a subsidiary created by CSA that will have six directors – three from CSA’s Board, two to be nominated by broadcaster Supersport, which holds a 30% stake in the competition and has already committed $89-million, and Sundar Raman, previously chief operating officer of the IPL, who holds a 12.5% stake and can nominate one representative as director.
It is understood that 25 international players have already agreed to participate, from, among others, England, West Indies and even Australia, which is hosting its Big Bash League at the same time. Each of the six teams will have a salary budget of $1.5m. Whether there’ll be any Indian players is still not known. The IPL forbids Indian players contracted to that competition from signing to other leagues.
A significant role for the new owners will be to invest in the provinces with which they have tied up. From coaching to marketing and commercial experience, provincial administrators are keen to tap into the expertise that has helped create one of the most lucrative sports leagues in the world.
Cricket SA may have put qualification for next year’s World Cup in jeopardy, but it is – as the organisation’s chief executive, Pholetsi Moseki put it – a necessary sacrifice to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sport in South Africa.
The financial might is certainly there from some big hitters in the business world. The onus is on Cricket SA and more broadly South Africa to take advantage thereof.
IOL Sport