‘If that were to happen, we’d rather be inside the conversation than outside’: Cricket Australia CEO on Saudi funded league | Cricket News
Days after reports came about Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund showing interest to start a Grand Slam-style tournament in world cricket, Cricket Australia’s Chief Executive Officer Todd Greenberg has shared his view about the cricketing world being open to the idea. Greenberg, who has been the chief of National Rug League (NRL) in Australia in the past, had attended the ICC meeting in Zimbabwe earlier this month and shared that the Saudi interest was one of the topics in the ICC meet.
“You don’t have to be Einstein to work out that there’s an opportunity for Saudi investment for a lot of sports across the world. The principal point is: do you want it to happen to you, or do you want it to happen with you? I’ve taken a view for cricket that if that were to happen, we’d rather be inside the conversation than outside the conversation,” Greenberg told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Recent years have seen Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund’s push into sport with investments in LIV Golf, Premier League Club Newcastle United, Saudi Pro League and ATP Tour and WTA Tour in tennis. LIV Golf had been in battle with PGA Tour of America and the issue had been lingering on since the last two years with some of the golfers choosing to play LIV Golf only and US President Donald Trump too arranging a meeting between the two. Greenberg urged world cricket to look at other examples. “We’ve clearly seen what happens when you’re outside the conversation in other sports. So, bring a curious mind to it, and there will be lots of challenges, but that curious mind will put you in good stead down the track. There will still be some people who feel a level of concern, and that’s completely understandable. And I will share some of those concerns. But I also have the view that the world is evolving quickly, so for us to think some of these things will go away, I think would be to the detriment of our sport. So, making sure you’re in the conversation or at least can have the opportunity to len, is important because I don’t want it to happen without our knowledge or understanding or input,” said Greenberg.
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Earlier this year, the England and Wales Cricket Board sold off 49 percent of the stake in the teams in The Hundred raising more than 649.6 million dollars. The Cricket Australia CEO also talked about such a possibility in Big Bash League.
“I think a lot of people on the back of what’s happened in the UK with the Hundred are just expecting that we’ll do the same thing here. And I’m at pains to point out to people that’s not the case. What we have to do first is let’s have a look at what options for headroom we’ve got, what growth opportunities we have in the league. This is a very profitable league. It’s doing really well. So the question for us is how do we maximise some of that? Is that changing some of our strategy, is it expansion? And considering all of those things before we even get to the point of, do we want external investment to come into our league? … I don’t want to be the sport that puts its head in the sand. I want to be a sport that has the view to the future and is open-minded to both evolution and change, whilst always protecting what’s really fundamental and core to the sport,” Greenberg told News Corp.
