Cricket South Africa and broadcaster SuperSport have agreed to hold a new Twenty20 event in the country beginning in January 2023. Plans for the yet-to-be-named tournament, which will feature six privately held teams, were unveiled in a joint statement.
To through some light on the new T20 competition, the CEO of CSA Pholetsi Moseki said
“We are excited by the formation of something this fresh and invigorating, which also offers the opportunity for private investment into the franchises,”
“CSA has already received interest from a number of potential local and international investors.”
Marc Jury, CEO at SuperSport also expressed his views saying
“We are delighted to invest in a product that will change the face of South African cricket. There is an early-year gap in the calendar, so the timing is ideal.”
Formate for new T20 tournament under Cricket South Africa
While key matters like player rostering and salary caps are still being debated, it was reported that a player auction will take place at an undetermined date.
The tournament’s debut season will begin immediately following South Africa’s scheduled trip to Australia later this year. A total of 33 games will be played in the competition, with a double round-robin league followed by a three-team playoffs stage.
The new league is Cricket South Africa’s latest effort to launch a franchise-based T20 event. Following the 2017 Champions Trophy, they created the Global T20 league in London, which was the brainchild of former board CEO Haroon Lorgat. However, the tournament was cancelled due to a lack of stable television and broadcast deals.
The Mzansi Super League took its place, with the CSA contracting the South African Broadcasting Corporation to broadcast all of the matches free of charge. The MSL was contested in two editions until 2019 when the tournament structure had to be changed to reflect the sweeping changes in South Africa’s domestic system.
Meanwhile, for the new tournament’s TV rights deals and parties investing their valuable money, the statement released stated
“The parties have invested significant sums of money into the joint venture. Governance and commercial sustainability are priorities for the board of this new entity. All successful leagues are underpinned by strong domestic TV rights deals, which has been secured for this property,”
Thus, now the CSA have come up with their latest venture and is optimistic that it will prove to be successful.
