BBL explainer: what does the Melbourne merger mean, and what happens next?
Introduction
The Australian cricket scene has been thrown into chaos with the push for private investment in the BBL, and a recent announcement from Cricket Victoria has left many questions unanswered. In this article, we will delve into the details of the Melbourne merger and what it means for the future of the BBL.
Will there be eight teams in the BBL next season?
Yes. That is guaranteed. There was never any intention on CA’s part to make changes to the competition structure in 2026-27, and private investment, if introduced, was not due to be part of the competition until 2027-28. There will be an eight-team BBL competition next season with each team playing ten home and away matches plus the finals, and two of those eight teams will be based in Melbourne.
So Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades will play next season?
It’s complicated. This is the eye of this week’s storm. Cricket Victoria (CV) announced on Tuesday that it has already made administrative decisions to merge operations of the two teams under one brand, which will be run by CV, and play under a different nickname and colours. Their intention is to sell the second team, currently Renegades, to a private investor before the 2026-27 season, the investor could then re-name and re-brand the team, as has been the case with several Hundred franchises that were sold last year.
How will that work?
Good question. It seems hard to believe that those things can happen within five months before the WBBL season starts and without the hybrid privatisation model even being approved yet, let alone testing the market with potential buyers and then actually running a formal process to purchase the license. But CV chief executive Nick Cummins is adamant all of this can be done in a couple of months and has already made the necessary administrative moves within the organisation to plan for it. There is also a contingency plan for Renegades if a prospective buyer cannot take over the team in time, with a caretaker administration already being formed to run the team as Renegades in its current form.
Why does Cricket Victoria want to do this?
Victoria had always intended to sell one of its two BBL teams entirely once it decided to vote for privatisation in order to run the other one more efficiently, with a 49% investor, like Western Australia and Tasmania intend to do with their lone teams Perth Scorchers and Hobart Hurricanes respectively. Victoria has long had trouble spreading its resources adequately across the two teams. Victoria was also hit harder by Covid than most other states, which has both impacted its current financial position differently and shaped its views on what’s necessary to future-proof cricket in the state.
What’s been the reaction from the other states?
Degrees of fury. Especially from New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. Those three states demanded an emergency phone hook-up with CA on Thursday to vent their frustration at being blindsided by Victoria on this announcement and question whether CA had been complicit in it being announced ahead of the state meetings and the vote on whether to move to the next phase. Western Australia and Tasmania also sat in on the call, which featured CEOs and chairs from all five states plus Greenberg and CA chair Mike Baird. Victoria was not invited on the call.
How did the players react?
With equal anger and some anxiety around the future.
What does it mean for the fans?
For fans of the two Melbourne clubs, they have a right to feel disenfranchised. Particularly fans who were born this century and have known nothing but the BBL in its current form and have grown up supporting either Stars or Renegades passionately over 15 years. How they will react if Victoria’s vision for the two teams is fulfilled this year remains to be seen.
What is the next step?
The crucial decision comes on June 15 when the state chairs meet to vote on the hybrid privatisation proposal, which is set to allow each state to make its own decision whether to go ahead with pursuing private investment. That vote will follow four days of meetings between state executives and CA in the previous week, where the various details and current frustrations will be thrashed out in person.
