How Tasmania's planned new stadium could trigger deal for the Hobart Hurricanes

Cricket Tasmania (CT) remains supportive of a pro-privatisation push that would see stakes in the eight Big Bash League clubs sold off to big money investors, as the split between cricket's stakeholder states deepens.

Not only does Tasmania remain committed to the privatisation process, but it believes it could be one of the biggest players at the table as officials eye a potential deal for the Hobart Hurricanes centred on a planned fixed-roof stadium at Macquarie Point.

CT chief executive officer Dominic Baker was part of a recent mission to India where prospective team buyers mingled with state bosses at a meet-and-greet facilitated by the Raine Group — the firm that oversaw the sale of England's 'Hundred' teams, which yielded almost $1 billion.

It was a chance for Australian state chief executives to canvas interested Indian investors ahead of the next stage of privatisation which, if green-lit, includes market testing and valuations of the teams.

At the top of the agenda amongst the more than 50 potential buyers was the planned $1.13 billion fixed-roof stadium, which will be the home ground of the Hobart Hurricanes from 2031.

"The chance to be involved in the first roofed cricket stadium in the world that potentially has all three formats played in it at an international level is something I think will be very attractive to some of our Indian friends," Baker said.

Baker believes Tasmania can leverage the new 23,000-seat stadium which, pending successful tests, will become the world's first fixed-roof arena able to stage all three formats of the game, in all weather conditions.

He says a 49 per cent share of the Hurricanes could theoretically be packaged up with a significant private investment opportunity in the stadium precinct, as part of a wider pro-sport and property play.

It could mirror a similar deal struck in the UK, where Indian infrastructure conglomerate GMR Group bought a 49 per cent share in the English Hundred team, the Southern Brave, that was bundled in with an acquisition of the Hampshire County Cricket Club, their home stadium, a golf course and a hotel.

"We would like to think we can bring a partner into Tasmania that is not only involved in our cricket team but is also investing in the community," Baker said.

"I think they think there's the opportunity to get into that environment here through a pro sports team", Baker said.

England was where Tasmania's privatisation preparation began last year when a delegation of CT officials toured the UK following the blockbuster sale of the Hundred teams.

The recent trip to Mumbai was yet another international fact-finding mission as the BBL barrels towards privatisation, but with a clearer focus.

"I think we provide more opportunity than just a cricket investment. It's an investment in Tasmania, in a market where I know the government, Tourism Tasmania, are extremely interested from a trade and tourism perspective.

"The economy of sport could bring something bigger to the state around people who are willing to partner with sports teams and invest in infrastructure".

Of particular significance to Cricket Tasmania is the chance to retain 51 per cent of the Hurricanes licence, while selling the other 49 per cent, which could be worth between $60 and $100 million.

Currently, the licence is owned by Cricket Australia, but a transaction would place the majority share in Tasmanian hands in perpetuity.

With any sell-off, though, comes compromise, and Baker wouldn't rule out a name and brand change for the Hurricanes, if a stake in the team is sold — but he insisted that the team's identity must remain distinctly Tasmanian.

"We've seen other instances in The Hundred where IPL teams have transferred their brands across to teams they've bought into. We'll have to consider that," he said.

It comes amidst this week's twist in the Big Bash League privatisation push, where Cricket Victoria sensationally positioned itself to sell off one of its two Big Bash League licences, while intending to rebadge the other as a Victorian-inspired team.

The move shocked some states, given that discussions between the states and Cricket Australia are ongoing, and no green light has been given to privatise.

Cricket Australia chief Todd Greenberg told the ABC that the organisation wasn't "caught off guard" by the announcement and could "understand the logic and the rationale" in Cricket Victoria's decision, which has been interpreted by some states as overly aggressive and deepened a split amongst cricket's stakeholders over the plans to sell.

"I've been saying all along that change in cricket is difficult, and change is hard for some people, and what we're trying to do here is bring a level of change and challenge to professional cricket," Greenberg said.

Cricket Australia has been open about its desire to allow states to sell stakes in their BBL teams, in a bid to not only raise north of $500 million for Australian cricket but to ensure the Big Bash remains a "globally competitive" league where the sport's superstars still want to play.

It cites the Indian Premier League and South African T20 league as cashed-up rivals that threaten to hoard the world's best players at the expense of the BBL and Australian Test summer, thereby driving Australian cricket's cash cow into decline.

"We're being challenged in this country on a very traditional model that's relied on bilateral cricket and bilateral revenues for a long period of time," Greenberg said.

"One is, we retain our key Australian players playing for their country, ensuring we keep them centrally contracted and secondly, which is equally important, is creating more funds to put into the grassroots, participation and community cricket," he said.

But not all are as optimistic as Cricket Australia or Tasmania, or as gung-ho as Victoria, as cricket edges closer to its most significant shift since World Series Cricket in the 1970s.

Cricket New South Wales has stood firm against plans to privatise, and along with Queensland, struck down an initial push to move forward with a sell-off.

It remains adamant that selling stakes in the Big Bash teams will amount to a financial sugar hit only, and believes other levers can be pulled that could generate similar profits for the game, before private capital is invited in.

It also believes broader, structural economic reform is needed at Cricket Australia, which last year posted an $11 million loss, and that while higher salary caps are required, paying superstars with proceeds of a one-off sale is too short-term a ploy.

At the heart of its argument is the long-term sustainability of the sport's finances, and the underlying question of what happens if, and when, the funds raised by selling off the Big Bash teams run out.

South Australia also initially baulked at plans to privatise but is more in favour of an opt-in model that would see states sell stakes in their teams if they so decided.

Under that model, a new governance structure and framework would need to be first agreed upon to maintain equilibrium between privatised and non-privatised teams.

Western Australia is keen to progress to the next stage, but its situation is different again, with its Perth Scorchers the most likely of the Big Bash teams to attract a loaded local buyer.

Convincing cricket fans, wary of the potential "slopification" of the Big Bash League, will also be a challenge.

Last week, an AI-generated hype video produced by English Hundred team the Manchester Super Giants — formerly the Manchester Originals before being bought out by IPL team Lucknow — left a sour taste in the mouth of some fans who saw the error-riddled video as an encapsulation of the dangers of selling out.

Journalist and commentator Bharat Sundaresan, who operates at the intersection of Indian and Australian cricket, believes that while guardrails must be put in place, partial privatisation must be welcomed if the Big Bash is to remain relevant and Australian cricket is to prosper.

"If the BBL doesn't catch up with those leagues, it will fall behind, and it has fallen down that pecking order quite dramatically in the last four or five years," he said.

Sundaresan believes some negative commentary toward privatisation was laced with fearful undertones, equating potential partial ownership of Australian teams to an Indian invasion of the Australian summer.

"December and January is still the 'El Dorado' of sorts, which is why they're keen to come in. But I don't think Cricket Australia, if they play this right — which I think they will, because of the federated model — will lose the control that people fear they will," he said.

To that end, Sundaresan, who was born in Mumbai, holds concerns over Cricket Victoria's plan to potentially create one team fuelled by state pride, while selling the other to overseas owners — potentially creating an 'us versus them' scenario that would track along racial lines.

"The notion of those two teams, where one is the Australian, the Victorian team, and the other is sold to a foreign entity, in all likelihood an IPL team, it can lead to areas we don't want to go as a society, which already has so many divisions, and that is concerning."

Meetings between Cricket Australia and the six states will continue over the coming weeks, as the dust settles from Cricket Victoria's move to forge ahead.

The Australian Cricketers Association will also be involved in negotiations as states consider the merits of the opt-in model, which was tabled following the rejection of Cricket Australia's initial plan to proceed with a sell-off.