Cricket Australia said on Thursday that it was shocked to learn that Channel Seven had filed a lawsuit against the organization.
In order to terminate its TV rights agreement with CA, Channel 7, the owner of the broadcast rights for cricket in Australia, has filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court. The long-running conflict between the network and the cricket body is simply being continued.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the network has taken CA to court over “multiple violations of its six-year media rights contract.”
Cricket Australia (CA) released a statement saying, “Cricket Australia (CA) is aware of reports that our broadcast partner, the Seven Network, has started legal proceedings against CA in regard to recent COVID-impacted cricket seasons.”
“Despite the great hurdles posed by the global pandemic, CA delivered two very successful cricket seasons in 2020–21 and 2021–22, featuring every WBBL and BBL game (a total of 240 games over two seasons), and highly lauded international schedules.
“Given the situation, CA is shocked that Seven has brought this unjustified action, which will be vehemently opposed,” CA said.
When Channel 7 requested a $70 million discount on its $82 million annual deal at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak, despite a full BBL competition and Test series against India, CA allegedly awarded the network only AUD 15 million discount – split over four years.
The network was later ruled to be only eligible for an AUD 5 million reduction, which later increased to AUD 8.3 million as a result of the cancellation of the Afghanistan series, according to an independent arbitrator.
