BBL boss Anthony Everard says that the competition’s expansion from 35 matches to 43 next season has been carefully considered, with the continued growth of cricket the core aim of the move.
The BBL announced on Friday that an additional eight matches will be played from the 2017-18 season, with each of the eight franchises to be granted an extra home game.
Everard says that the move has been in planning for nearly two years, and has not been undertaken lightly.
“The key to the decision is that it is certainly not expansion for expansion’s sake. It’s probably been something that we’ve been thinking about for 18 months now,” he said on SEN Afternoons.
“The BBL has obviously been a great success for the past few years. We’ve seen great numbers through the gate and on TV but it’s still always been centred on trying to grow the popularity of cricket and attract a new audience.
“We feel that allocating one extra home game to each of the clubs and giving them the opportunity perhaps to take that game on the road and open up new markets around the country is the best way to continue to grow.”
Everard affirmed that the expansion will not significantly change the look of the Big Bash season, revealing that the competition could be extended by one week at the most, with additional double headers likely to occur.
“It’s not going to be a material change to the window that the BBL sits in,” he said.
“Our fans love it where it is and it’s easy for families to get along during that school holiday period.
One of the touted expansion options that the BBL was considering was adding new teams to the popular Twenty20 tournament, but Everard says that new franchises are still years away from happening.
“Not in the next couple of years,” he said.
"This is a competition that didn’t exist only six years ago. It’s growing and it has been very well received by fans new and old around the country and I guess what we see next year is the next stage of the evolution."
Another expected impact of the expanded format is an increase to the lucrative next TV rights deal for the BBL, with current broadcaster Network Ten’s $20 million a year deal expiring at the end of next season.
Everard says that any increases to the TV rights deal are only a bonus, and were not the driving force behind the expansion.
“The key to this decision was never around maximising broadcast rights, it’s what part of what role the BBL can play in driving our overall strategy, which is about attracting new fans,” he said.
“We felt that playing an extra eight games is the best way to go about that. If that has a flow on effect to the broadcast negotiations, that’s a bonus.”
Chuck: We have to be cautious about BBL expansion
Darren Berry has voiced concern over the move, hoping that the competition isn’t expanding too fast from the current, popular 35-game fixture.
He also believes an expanded fixture will cause even more scheduling conflicts with national side matches.
“I really like the format at the moment and I like the timeframe,” Berry said on SEN’s The Run Home.
“I don’t mind if they play a few more games but I hope they don’t draw it out and in my opinion ‘cook the golden goose.’
“It’s perfect over the Christmas and New Year period - kids are on holidays.
“Just be careful we don’t make it too big. Already we’re frustrated that it clashes with the one-dayers. I’m happy with a four to five-week schedule and that’s it.