Welcome to The Big Deal, and Happy New Year!

We’re still winding our way back into full flight after too much Christmas pudding and a couple too many refreshments over New Year’s.

But there are deals in the making and so we’re back in warm-up mode, before hitting the ground running into 2023.

If you haven’t already been following our summer podcast series, tune into The Art Of The Deal, where top AFL agent Marty Pask has been joining Tredders to unpack the details and process for securing the prized signature of sports star. Don’t miss it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

In the meantime, there are some big deals and big dollars to talk about.

IN THIS WEEK’S WRAP OF THE BIG DEALS

• Australian Open eyes record crowd

• Big Bash New Year’s boost for Cricket Australia

• Cricket poised to remain on Seven

• Olympics switch to Nine

• Ronaldo signs record deal with Saudi club

• Any given Sunday on Youtube

• Media and manipulation in contract negotiations

  Got a Big Deal you want to share? Get in touch

AUSTRALIAN OPEN EYES RECORD CROWD TO GET BACK IN BLACK

Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley has revealed his organisation has exhausted its cash reserves after two successive Australian Open tournaments played before restricted crowds because of pandemic restrictions in Melbourne.

Tiley told News Corp TA’s bank balance has been drained from $80 million to virtually nothing.

“Basically we’ve got to start building the cash reserve again,” he said.

It comes in the wake of the financial struggles by other national sporting organisations including cricket and netball.

Tiley said Tennis Australia is hoping for 900,000 people to attend the two-week tournament to help put TA back in the black.

“We want to return to our pre-pandemic plans of cementing the AO as the biggest annual sporting event in the world in January, while also making it as accessible to as many fans as possible,” Tiley said.

The previous record Australian Open crowd was recorded in 2020, just two months before the country was locked down, when 812,000 people attended.

This year’s tournament, which begins on January 16, will see the return of Novak Djokovic, who was controversially deported from Australia 12 months ago because he was unvaccinated.

Melbourne recently extended its right to host the grand slam until 2046, warding off interest from inside and outside Australia including Sydney and Shanghai.

The Victorian government has invested $1 billion into the Melbourne Park precinct over the last decade.

BIG BASH NEW YEAR’S BOOST FOR CRICKET AUSTRALIA

Cricket Australia’s coffers have been boosted by the biggest Big Bash crowd since the start of the pandemic.

The traditional New Year’s Eve Big Bash clash at Adelaide Oval kept turnstiles clinking and coffers chinking with 40,373 fans in attendance.

The only other three attendances to crack the 20,000-mark this season all belong to the Scorchers with Perth clearly showing its preference for short-form cricket to the traditional version.

Curiously, both the Stars and Scorchers were also involved in the lowest Big Bash crowd so far this season when just 3697 attended Melbourne’s Junction Oval on December 23.

Cricket Australia also propped up its balance sheet after more than 150,000 fans poured into the MCG to watch the Boxing Day Test against South Africa.

A match that reached a fourth day helped stretch the total attendance to 155,714 after 64,876 watched the opening day action.

It came off the back of a two-day Test at the Gabba and a disappointing turn out for the summer’s opening Test against the West Indies in Perth.

CRICKET SET TO REMAIN ON SEVEN

Cricket Australia appears set to kiss and make up with free-to-air broadcaster Seven after a breathtaking round of negotiations full of numerous twists and turns.

The peacekeeping deal would include Seven dropping court action against Cricket Australia for a perceived lack of quality content, aimed largely at the Big Bash.

Just a week earlier, it appeared former rights holders Nine would regain the sport, pairing it with tennis in what loomed as a logistically challenging arrangement.

But despite ignoring Seven’s own deadline to settle on a new deal, Cricket Australia is poised to ink a new five-year deal with Fox remaining as the game’s pay broadcaster.

The new deal is believed to be worth up to $1.4 billion, a rise of around 18 per cent on the previous $1.18 billion contract.

It remains short of the $1.5 billion Ten’s owner Paramount tabled.

OLYMPICS SWITCH TO NINE

While the cricket may be staying put at Seven, Nine has struck a major blow landing the next three editions of the Olympic Games, culminating in Brisbane 2032.

Nine reportedly paid A$300 million for the rights - between $50-70 million more than Seven’s bid but still well shy of the $400 million sought by the International Olympic Committee.

The deal includes the winter Games but not the Paralympics which are subject to a separate bidding process.

Nine last broadcast the summer Olympic Games in London 2012.

Seven appears to have opted for the cricket rights in preference to the Olympics after deciding it could not justify keeping both.

It also renewed its AFL rights deal in September for a further seven years from 2025-2031 in a record deal with Foxtel worth $4.5 billion.

It is well recognised in TV circles that while the Olympics don’t pay for themselves in terms of viewership over the two weeks of the event, they offer a much longer and beneficial promotional platform for the rights holders’ news and current affairs platforms.

RONALDO SIGNS RECORD DEAL WITH SAUDI ARABIAN CLUB

Portuguese superstar Ronaldo has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr in what is believed to be the game’s biggest ever contract.

The deal is understood to be worth in the order of an eye-watering €200 million (A$314 million) per season once commercial deals are taken into account.

Ronaldo, who turns 38 next month, was sensationally released by Manchester United after criticism of coach Erik ten Hag.

By the time this deal expires in June, 2025, he will be the wrong side of 40.

The new contract represents a significant pay rise for Ronaldo who was on a paltry A$44.1 million per season at Old Trafford.

“I can’t wait to discover a new football league in a different country,” Ronaldo said of his new venture.

But former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was unimpressed with the move in light of fellow Ballon d’Or winner and World Cup champion Lionel Messi’s reputed contract extension with PSG.

“In some ways it’s a sad end for him,” Carragher said.

“Two of the greatest players in Messi and Ronaldo - Ronaldo has finished his career during an interview with Piers Morgan and Messi has won the World Cup. It’s not the best way to go out.”

Reports persist that PSG is poised to announce it has re-signed Messi.

ANY GIVEN SUNDAY ON YOUTUBE

In case you hadn’t heard, YouTube is no longer just for watching old music videos.

The tech giant has rewritten the parameters of sports broadcasting after signing a US $2.5 billion (A$3.6 billion) per season deal for the rights to Sunday matches in the NFL.

The ‘Sunday ticket’ package had been with DirecTV since 1994 which was paying US$1.5 billion per year.

While details of how YouTube will run subscriptions are yet to emerge, it is believed that it may allow fans to sign up for ‘single team’ packages, which would be cheaper than the general subscription, expected to be in the order of US$300.

The NFL began an 11-year deal with Amazon Prime for the rights to its Thursday night matches this year.

MEDIA AND MANIPULATION IN CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

While some player agents and clubs attempt to use the media to influence the narrative around a contact negotiation for their benefit, top AFL player agent Marty Pask says focusing on building strong relationships, having honest conversations and relying on quality information ultimately gets better results.

“Some like to use the media and other (external) variables as tactics (in contract negotiations), but personally, I know what the value (of the player) is. I’ve been doing it for 14 years, I know exactly why this is the figure it is … I don’t need the paper or somebody else to tell me, (the player) has just got to believe and back that in,” Pask said on The Big Deal’s The Art Of The Deal podcast series.

“I think honesty and credibility in the industry and having good dealings and relationships is going to serve you far better than going around back doors and (having) sideways conversations. Knowledge is power in any industry you’re in. And the better people with the better knowledge are going to be able to provide their clients with better information that’s going to serve them well."

We’re two episodes in to the four part series on The Art Of The Deal, so make sure you’re following along on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Thanks for reading our weekly wrap! Let us know your thoughts, and share it with your friends. 

Share