‘India series does nothing for West Indies’: Cricket’s two-pronged revenue model sparks debate

West Indies tour of India (AP Photo) Cricket West Indies (CWI) chief executive Chris Dehring has questioned the financial system governing bilateral cricket, explaining how it has contributed to the board’s ongoing financial woes. Despite the West Indies currently playing a T20I series against India, Dehring said the Caribbean council will not receive any revenue from the series, even though the hosts will be making millions.The T20I series is level at 2-2 after Shai Hope’s century in Hyderabad. Speaking to The Scoop, Wisden Cricket’s Dehring explained that the financial model leaves visiting teams without a share of the broadcast revenue generated by bilateral matches.“West Indies cricket will not get anything in this case because the series is being played in India,” Dehring said. “A series that could generate $20 million to $30 million in India brings no revenue to West Indies cricket.”

How the revenue system has changed

Dehring traced the problem back to 1997, when nine of the ICC’s 10 member nations voted to change cricket’s financial model. Before this decision, host countries usually paid visiting teams a guaranteed fee, which sometimes earned the West Indies more than hosting matches at home.“You have to go back to 1997 to understand how it happened,” he added. “I was lucky or unlucky to be there when the ICC member countries voted to change the financial model that underpinned world cricket. By then the West Indies were a very attractive team and everyone wanted us to tour. We were getting a tour fee that was often worth more than we could earn hosting a series in the Caribbean.”Under the revised system, the country hosting the bilateral series would be allowed to keep all revenue from its broadcasting rights. Dehring argued that this created a large imbalance between countries with large audiences and smaller cricketing nations.“This meant that India could keep the revenue generated by a population of one and a half billion people, while the West Indies could keep whatever revenue we might generate in Antigua with about 100,000 or St. Kitts with about 30,000,” Dehring continued.“It was clearly unfair. The ICC member countries outvoted us nine to one. I said at the time that this decision effectively sealed the demise of West Indies cricket because it took away our main source of income,” he added.