Broadcast deal imminent for troubled T20GL

Cricket South Africa (CSA) and SuperSport will unveil a broadcast deal for the troubled T20 Global League (T20GL) on Thursday‚ TimesLIVE has learnt.

But indications are that CSA could lose almost R60 million in revenue from the ambitious venture — the difference between what is believed to have been SuperSport’s initial offering and the price that the board and the broadcaster have reportedly agreed.

CSA apparently rejected SuperSport’s original bid of US$10-million‚ and now it seems the parties have shaken hands on a price of US$5.8-million.

The difference of US$4.2-million is worth R57.08-million on Wednesday’s exchange rate.

That could be seen as the cost of leaving the matter undecided until so late in the day‚ what with the tournament set to start in less than a month’s time.

A SuperSport spokesperson denied that a contract has been signed: “No deal has been made. We are in discussions‚ period.”

He declined to “divulge or even speculate figures”.

But a CSA source was bullish‚ in a text message on Wednesday‚ that the deal was about to be sealed: “We are announcing tomorrow!”

For their next trick‚ CSA will try to nail down a title sponsor for an event in which a franchise has already changed hands.