After SA’s two previous attempts to launch a T20 tournament failed, Graeme Smith believes this time around they have done everything right to ensure the highly-anticipated CSA T20 league will be a success.
Smith, a former Cricket SA director of cricket, is the commissioner of the yet to be named T20 league, which will take place from January to February 2023.
He has been tasked to ensure that the tournament becomes a success and help the financially struggling CSA to be sustainable.
CSA will be hoping it will be third time lucky after the two attempts to launch the T20 Global League failed in 2017.
While the Mzansi Super League (MSL) did take place in 2018 and 2019, before being disrupted by Covid-19, it also failed to reach the intended heights or provide financial stability to CSA. The CSA was also responsible for footing the bill for organising the MSL.
“We’ve been working tirelessly behind the scenes to set this league up,” Smith told the Sunday Times this week.
“The league is a big step in the direction of making sure CSA is sustainable and there’s an investment into grassroots in the pipeline. The players in SA must be rewarded for their talent and this investment will ensure we continue to produce players and grow the game.”
All the six franchises have been secured by people or companies that own clubs in the world’s best T20 competition — the Indian Premier League (IPL) — following a bidding process.
The connection of the newly formed competition to the IPL will, it is hoped, help to bring in revenue as it has done for the Indian tournament.
“The interest since we went public with the six-strong franchise owners and their subsequent announcement of team names and players has put us in an exciting position,” Smith said.
“The investment from the franchise owners has given the league credibility and status, along with a foundation for us to build to make this a success. We have also secured a world-class broadcaster and will be selling a premium product to other territories across the world.
“T20 leagues need to cater to the home ecosystem and holistically benefit the region and the players, if we can solve that equation we will have succeeded.”
Despite the strong ties to the IPL, it doesn’t look like India is going to allow their players to participate in the tournament as contracted players are not allowed to take part in leagues abroad.
The interest since we went public with the six-strong franchise owners and their subsequent announcement of team names and players has put us in an exciting position
Smith believes having Supersport, which is also a shareholder in the competition, is crucial to the success of the T20 tournament.
In the MSL, the financially struggling SA Broadcast Corporation (SABC) had the exclusive rights to televise the matches. However, it’s believed that CSA is negotiating with Supersport to take over the third edition of MSL in a bid to monetise the tournament.
“Securing a broadcaster was an important step in bringing this league to life. It’s crucial for South Africa to have a product that they own, can develop and monetise, and broadcasting plays a vital role,” said Smith.
“SuperSport own the Sub-Saharan rights and are the biggest sports broadcaster on the continent, which ensures we will have a premium product that we can sell to other territories in the world.
“SABC, as the public broadcaster, are an important stakeholder in South African sport and we hope they will be able to play a role in promoting the league.”
Supersport has done wonders for other sports codes such as rugby and football in SA and one can be guaranteed that with them involved, the chances of this being a success are quite high.
Smith also revealed that they were speaking to a few entities to come on board as sponsors.
Successful bidders
- Reliance Industries Limited, owners of Mumbai Indians — Newlands, Cape Town
- RPSG Sports Private Limited, owners of Lucknow Super Giants — Kingsmead, Durban
- Sun TV Network Limited, owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad — St George’s Park, Gqeberha
- Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited, owners of Chennai Super Kings — Wanderers, Johannesburg
- Royals Sports Group, owners of Rajasthan Royals — Boland Park, Paarl
- JSW Sports, co-owners of Delhi Capitals — SuperSport Park, Centurion
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