BBL season reduced to 44-match affair ahead of new TV rights deal 

The Big Bash League (BBL) is set to be reduced to a 44-match affair by Cricket Australia (CA) in accordance with the new TV rights deal. The CA signed a seven-year deal with Foxtel Group and Seven West Media that begins in 2024.

The new structure will see 40 league-stage matches being played and four playoff contests. Earlier the tournament comprised 61 matches, with five of them being the playoffs, where five out of 10 teams qualified. The revamped structure of the four-match playoffs will be announced as the season nears.

The new TV rights deal does not impact the schedule of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), which will continue to be a 59-game tournament. CA's general manager of Big Bash Leagues, Alistair Dobson said regarding the changes:

"A shortened BBL will allow us greater flexibility to ensure we can deliver the best possible fixture for clubs and fans, while providing a platform that allows players to continue to produce the world-class levels of cricket we've seen over the duration of the tournament."

With a mass decline in attendance even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision to trim down the tournament was taken. The BBL is an intense and perhaps even a drawn-out affair with eight franchises, making it the second biggest T20 league behind the Indian Premier League (IPL), in terms of the number of matches being played per season.

The league is also facing a hard time trying to rope in their established domestic stars. The CA is competing against some of the biggest franchise tournaments in the world which are on the cusp of making a giant stride with the inevitable introduction of centralized contracts.

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Trade window for the BBL is set for May 22-November 30

The BBL will continue to stick with the draft method to distribute the players among the franchise. The draft system was introduced last year to avoid independent negotiations and the order will be determined with the help of a lottery ahead of the event in September.

There will also be a week-long retention window, where franchises will have the provision of retaining up to 12 players. The window is scheduled to begin from 9 am on May 15 and will be valid till the beginning of the trade window, which will kickstart from May 22 onwards.

Is the decision to shorten the BBL window the right one made by the authorities? Let us know what you think.