Could club expansion revive the BBL?

BBL - The Final: Scorchers v Sixers

As it stands, the Big Bash League (BBL) has had eight foundation clubs since its inception in 2011. Could growing the competition to 10 or 12 teams save the ailing competition?

There's no doubt the BBL has struggled in recent times as the number of fixtures has grown. However, the existing television deal has meant the league cannot afford to shrink its number of matches before it expires in 2024. A suite of new franchises will help take the game to new markets and uphold the required level of content to make it commercially viable.

In its heyday, the tournament's popularity was mighty enough to be on the cusp of overtaking international cricket. It's no more evident than the crowd of 80,000 plus people who rocked up to the MCG for the Melbourne derby just a few seasons ago.

An expanded BBL was a key component of Cricket Australia's billion-dollar broadcast deal with Channel Seven and Fox Cricket, whereby the number of matches for the existing teams was simply increased - it is now 14 matches per side every season.

But that has arguably backfired, leaving a fundamental problem for the competition. It simply needs enough content to fulfill its TV deal. Several innovations have been brought into the league. Those include the power surge, the X-Factor and the Bash Boost Point.

Others point towards saving the league by increasing the budget for international stars, punishing poor over rates, shortening the season or increasing player movement between clubs.

However, ultimately variety and innovation could occur by introducing two to four new franchises. This would bring the game into new markets and new supporter bases and make the league less stale. No matter where the games are played, it is still a product on broadcast television.

The Gold Coast is a favored candidate given its large population and existing infrastructure. However, the city has become a vacuum for sporting teams to fail across various Australian leagues.

Other localities that could house a BBL team include Far North Queensland/Northern Territory, New Zealand, Canberra, Geelong or even a second team in Western Australia - pending an economic analysis.

BBL boss Alistair Dobson has said that bold decisions will be required as the competition moves into its 12th installment next season. Speaking to News Corp, Dobson said:

“We’re in a phase of the comp now where we have to be as bold as the people who created the competition in the first place. We have to re-imagine that level of courage and ambition from the people that brought it to life in the first place.”

The BBL first began in 2011-12 as a successor to the Big Bash (which was played between the states rather than city franchises). It reached its 'peak' in 2016 when it became the sixth highest attended sports league in the world (by way of average crowd).