British cricket execs hosted at AFL, NRL as Ashes talks heat up

afr.com:

Among the senior business executives and politicians hobnobbing at the AFL and NRL grand finals last week were two understated poms who were actually star guests.

Tony Singh and Guy Le Grew were in Australia on behalf of the English Cricket Board, and were hosted by two major broadcasters, feted with appetisers and shown the ropes of how Australians do sport on TV.

It was a crucial couple of days for the pair’s hosts – the Nine and Seven networks – which are at loggerheads over a multimillion-dollar deal to air the next two international Ashes series in 2027 and 2031.

Travis Head plays a shot at The Oval during Australia’s winning Ashes campaign against England. Getty

Mr Singh, the ECB’s chief commercial officer, and Mr Le Grew, the chief revenue officer of sports advisory group Pitch International, were on a mission to help decide who will broadcast the Ashes when England next play on home soil.

The pair held a series of meetings with potential partners in the days after the football finals weekend, and are now in the advanced stages of deciding which network will broadcast the next two tournaments.

Two media sources with direct knowledge of the more recent deals, signed by Nine in 2019 and 2023, said the media giant paid about $23 million per series. But with the high ratings and media attention generated from the latest series, the ECB executives will want more. The ECB declined to comment.

Other media sources, who aren’t authorised to speak publicly about discussions currently under way, said Mr Singh and Mr Le Grew were offering two packages to the Australian broadcasters.

The first is the rights to the 2027 and 2031 Ashes series, which will take place in England. These must be offered to free-to-air television