The International Cricket Council (ICC) will reportedly approach its member boards to secure player rights for its upcoming mobile cricket game, without involving the World Cricketers Association (WCA).
Securing players’ rights is vital to the ambitious project.
The WCA is the global representative body for professional cricketers, representing players from all cricket-playing nations, with the exception of India and Pakistan.
“A clear direction from the April (ICC board meeting in Harare) meeting was that all players’ rights for this project would be secured through the members. The ICC was NOT to contract player rights through a third party such as the World Cricketers Association,” an ICC note, circulated among members who attended its recent Annual Conference in Singapore, states.
This approach contrasts with that of most officially licensed sports video games, which typically acquire player rights through third-party players’ unions.
It bears noting that it is the absence of a players’ rights body in India that has allowed the BCCI to disallow active cricketers from playing in international cricket leagues templated on the Indian Premier League.
In addition, the ICC is exploring ways to secure the rights of retired legends — no longer under contract with national boards — due to their enduring appeal. This includes iconic names such as Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni.
The ICC hopes to resolve all aspects of the project before its next meeting in October. “The aim is to have a preferred partner identified for approval at the October board meetings. The ICC management will be in touch with members shortly to formalise the licence of rights required for the mobile game. These agreements will need to be completed by October,” the note states.
ICC chairman Jay Shah said, “Cricket has one of the most passionate and diverse fanbases in global sport. This project represents a unique opportunity and step forward to reimagine how cricket is experienced and celebrated in the digital world. By bringing together the ICC and its Full Members, we are laying the foundation for a cricket game that engages the modern audience and reflects the global scale of our game.”
Per Sri Lanka’s The Island, after the Harare meeting, the ICC initiated an expression of interest process, and 15 respondents were then filtered based on their experience and expertise in creating world-class mobile games and the financial standing of their organisations.
Following the filtering process, the shortlisted organisations were sent an Invitation To Tender (ITT) document. The responses are expected in September. Evaluation of them, based on both technical and commercial criteria, will be done thereafter.
A&W Capital appointed consultant
The ICC has appointed A&W Capital as an independent consultant to help it design distribution and revenue generation models. The appointment followed a competitive request for proposals process in which seven organisations, including Deloitte, BCG, and Sports Five, responded. A&W Capital was eventually selected for its expertise with the Indian mobile gaming market and the cricket economy. The company, with offices in Mumbai and London, is expected to submit a report on independent valuation of the bundle of rights and distribution model(s) at the October board meetings.
As for the mobile game development management, an initial expression of interest document was publicly made available on the ICC website. The document asked the organisations to outline their relevant experience and expertise, financial standing, and how they plan to use the rights. Using this information, a shortlist was created of organisations qualified to receive the ITT.
“The shortlisted organisations will be requested to provide further details on the game such as what type of game they plan to make and how they plan to market and promote the game, which will form the first stage of the ITT evaluation and, if successful at the first stage, the management will then consider their commercial offer for securing the rights,” the note says. The responses from the shortlisted organisations are expected by early September, by when the ICC will move to presentation, selection, and ultimately negotiation with the successful candidate.
According to The Island, although the ICC has laid out the detailed roadmap, the general impression among members is that the project may take over a year for completion.
It remains to be seen how WCA members from the financially stronger cricketing nations (the UK and Australia in particular) react to a directive such as this from the ICC. Seen from this perch, legal challenges to such a directive could well come into play.
