Australia’s matches at both upcoming men’s World Cups in 2022 and 2023 will be broadcast by Nine
Australia’s defence of the Men’s T20 World Cup will be broadcast on the Nine Network but the Women’s ODI World Cup is set to be without a free-to-air broadcaster.
The network has flagged it will broadcast “other big match-ups”, likely to include a blockbuster between India and Pakistan at the MCG on October 23.
Nine will also show the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup as part of its broadcast deal with the International Cricket Council (ICC) that covers major tournaments. Every match at the two World Cups will be screened on Foxtel and Kayo.
But it appears the Women’s ODI World Cup, which begins in March and is being hosted by New Zealand, will only be available to Australian fans via Foxtel and its streaming service.
“In light of this mornings “interesting” news – I’m going to offer up 20x @kayosports Gift Cards for people to be able to watch our World Cup next month… Only available to Aussie based watchers (sorry). Hit me up if you want one. #BreakTheBias,” she tweeted.
Nine had local broadcast rights for the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia, which culminated in the hosts defeating India in front of a crowd of 86,174 at the MCG on International Women’s Day.
That T20 World Cup final was relegated to 9Gem, while Married At First Sight was screened on Nine’s main channel. The match attracted a national TV audience of 825,000 on 9Gem, while 406,000 tuned in via Foxtel.
Nine’s long-term arrangement with Cricket Australia ended in 2018, when Foxtel and the Seven Network shelled out a combined AUD$1.182 billion as part of a six-year broadcast deal. However, broadcast rights for ICC events fall under a different umbrella.