A prospective owner warns against renaming and rebranding Big Bash League teams
A prospective investor in a potentially privatised Big Bash League has warned against radically transforming teams through renaming and rebranding as anticipation heightens over a decision that could dramatically alter the Australian cricket summer.
A decision on whether the BBL proceeds with privatisation is imminent, with an announcement expected this week.
While the future of Australia’s T20 domestic competition has been heavily debated by the state-based bodies, with some reservations being expressed, privatisation is expected in some form.
What exactly the model looks like - with perhaps a couple of franchises sold outright while others only partially - remains to be seen but the Australian cricket community has been bracing for change.
While a major focus for administrators has been on the financial distribution of privatisation, fans of the hugely popular BBL have been pondering whether their teams are about to dramatically transform and become almost unrecognisable.
Bedding down roots over the inaugural 15 seasons of the competition, the BBL’s six teams have distinct brands and become some of the country’s most identifiable sporting clubs.
But would privatisation force a rebrand? The Hundred in the UK, after a near billion-pound sale last year, might just be instructive with prominent changes including the Oval Invincibles transforming into MI London after Reliance Industries (Mumbai Indians) secured a 49 per cent stake.
Could BBL franchises similarly change names and team colours? Could a team be called the MI Sydney or Melbourne, for instance? Any such measures would undoubtedly cause widespread outrage. While it’s not usually wise to gauge sentiment over social media, there has been nonetheless considerable backlash from fans voicing those fears.
Prospective owners will have much to contemplate. But American tech entrepreneur Sanjay Govil, who is “100 per cent” monitoring the BBL developments, has no plans on rocking the boat if he becomes part of a new-look competition.
Montreal-born Govil is the owner of MLC’s Washington Freedom, which has a strategic partnership with Cricket New South Wales, and secured a 50 per cent stake in Welsh Fire as part of the Hundred sale.
“Not in my case,” Govil told Cricket Financial Journal in response to whether he would rebrand a BBL team. “There is a brand which has been built. People relate to that. We would want to maintain the culture and not just change it for the sake of it.
“Like in the NFL when teams are sold, the names and uniforms don’t usually change.
“It’s a historic thing. People associate themselves with the team and associate themselves with the past, right? And so for me personally, it’s critical that we maintain that fabric.”
Govil, who grew up in India before making his fortune in the US, has been monitoring the BBL developments with interest. A privatised BBL, especially appealing with Australia a traditional powerhouse in the sport, looms as a golden opportunity for cricket franchise owners to spread their footprint and build global brands.
“We’re very excited about the process and to see what happens,” Govil said. “Like what we’ve done with Wales, it’s important to have some local ownership, and to keep the local fabric and local culture. That’s very critical.
“If we were to be able to get a team in Australia, we want the same thing.”
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