Cricket Australia Eyes 10-Team Big Bash as Franchise Sale Plans Advance
Cricket Australia is ready to expand the Big Bash League to 10 teams if its push to sell off stakes in existing franchises clears the remaining political hurdles within the game.
The Cricket Australia Board met on a Wednesday determined to pursue a hybrid model: some of the eight current BBL clubs would be opened to private buyers, rather than forcing all of them into a wholesale selloff. That compromise emerged after the initial privatisation plan was rejected by the states in April, when New South Wales and Queensland combined to block it. South Australia then proposed an alternative allowing each BBL club the option to sell stakes without compulsion, which opened the door to the current push.
Four of the six state associations must back the process for it to proceed. Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania are strongly in favour, according to The Guardian. NSW and Queensland remain the key swing votes.
Cricket Australia has appointed the US bank Raine Group to run the sale process and is continuing to test market conditions. Initial analysis by Raine Group is believed to value BBL franchises at up to $200m. For context, the England and Wales Cricket Board raised nearly $1bn last year by selling stakes in its eight Hundred franchises — the ECB's city-based 100-ball competition — with four of those stakes bought by existing Indian Premier League owners. Big Bash officials have already held talks with several IPL and Hundred team owners during a trip to England in July.
Unlike the ECB's mass auction, Cricket Australia would not stage a single grand sale. Each state would instead be invited to sell on a piecemeal basis. Cricket Victoria has already announced it wants a complete sale of the Melbourne Renegades, targeting the Indian market, while continuing to run the Melbourne Stars. The Stars are also set for a rebrand as part of broader changes to Cricket Victoria's Melbourne teams.
If expansion gets the green light, the two new teams would be freshly bid for rather than handed to existing franchises. Cricketers Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa are leading a proposed "Gold Coast Magic" bid, and Cricket Australia is reportedly keen to attract Indian owners for the new sides. Canberra, Geelong, Gold Coast and Cairns have all been touted as potential expansion locations in the past, with Hong Kong and Singapore also floated as possibilities.
The broader goal is to keep Australia's domestic T20 competition relevant in an increasingly crowded global franchise market. The men's BBL was shortened to ten games per side for the 2023-24 season to sharpen scheduling, while the Women's Big Bash League was left unchanged. There are also plans for Brisbane Heat and Melbourne clubs to open the 2026-27 season in Chennai, pending sign-off from the BCCI.
None of this happens without the states. Cricket Australia is still working to convince state bodies and the players' association to open the eight existing sides to external investment. Until four states say yes, expansion and privatisation remain proposals rather than a done deal.
For fans, the upside is straightforward: more teams, new rivalries, and potentially deeper rosters if private money flows in. The risk is familiar to anyone who follows franchise sport — that commercial priorities reshape the competition in ways not everyone welcomes. Either way, the BBL's next chapter is being written in boardrooms, not just on the field.
