International Cricket Council - CWC Hosted by England and Wales - Case Study Example

Media Assessment - Media Portfolio Wednesday 28th October, 2015 Name: Student Number: The 2019 International Cricket Council (ICC) CWC Hosted by England and Wales Word Count: The 2019 International Cricket Council (ICC) - CWC Hosted by England and Wales Media Objectives 1. Increase the number of people following the game on social media, television, print, and at the event venues. 2. Improve the visual impact of the games to spectator and fans, spreading the reach to previously uninvolved countries. Media Plan MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES MEDIA OUTLETS TIMELINE The 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Television sports news Newspaper sport sections Online updates by sport websites Sport channel broadcasts   1 March, 2018 – 4 April 2018 The ICC final list of 2019 Cricket World Cup participating teams, and schedule fixtures Television sport updates Sports magazines Newspaper publicity Online sports blogs 4 April, 2018  Match results for teams playing in the 2019 Cricket World Cup  Online updates by sport websites Newspaper sport news Television sport news Social Media communication   30 May, 2019 – 15 July, 2019 Final 2019 Cricket World Cup match   Online video streaming  Billboards Live television broadcasts live radio announcements  15 July, 2019 Justification The media objectives stated above are relevant to the event mentioned because the ICC entered into a contract with one of the best media companies in the world. Star Middle East and Star India have several networks in Asia, where most of the ICC members reside. Twenty First Century Fox Inc. owns the two enterprises and is the third largest and most influential media firm. It means that the objectives are achievable since Twenty First Century Fox Inc. dedicates a lot of its resources to innovation and technological improvement. The Media Plan Above is appropriate for the 2019 ICC CWC because it covers events relevant to the occasion, and they are all of interest to the media. For the 2018 World Cup Qualifier matches, not all games will be of interest to the media and the public. The most important will be the performance of associate teams in the games, so there is a probability that only results will be media-worthy (Nicholson, et.al, 2015). The semi-finals will attract both audiences and media attention since the winners of these tournaments will go on to play in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, regardless of the final winner. Fact Sheet The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup The twelfth ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) will take place in England and Wales, from the 30th of May to the 15th of July in 2019. It is the fifth time that England hosts a Cricket World Cup (CWC). England has hosted CWC three times in a row from the beginning, and later in 1999 together with Scotland, Netherlands, Ireland and Wales. England qualified to hold the first CWC for two reasons. One, it was willing and able to put together the resources required in organizing such an event, and two, people believed it was favorable since it had longer daylight periods in June. It meant that a match could end a day since one-day cricket was the single form of the game played at the time. England is the only country in the world to host the CWC alone, and the one to host the largest number of world cups so far. Lord’s Cricket Ground (Lord’s), one of England’s cricket grounds, is the single venue that hosted more than one final match in the CWC. The last time England hosted the CWC (1999), Australia won, but England has no world cup win up to date. West Indies won the first (1975) and second (1979) cups, followed by India in 1983, Australia in 1987, Pakistan in 1992, and Sri Lanka in 1996. Australia won the seventh (1999), eighth (2003), and ninth (2007) tournaments, followed by India in 2011 and Australia again in 2015. The CWC (takes place after four years) is the international cricket calendar’s flagship event, and teams contest in a 50-over format. The format changed during the fourth CWC from sixty to fifty in an inning after a change of venue, which saw shorter daylight durations. The tournament is among the world’s major international sports events since it engages approximately one-fifth of the global population. It has an estimated television audience of one billion people and employs over 400 accredited officials and players. England and Wales are the co-hosts of the 2019 CWC, and the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. The first match is set for The Oval in London, and the final at Lord’s Cricket Grounds (Lord’s), London. Some of the other nine venues include Rose Bowl in Southampton, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Headingley in Leeds, and Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, Wales. Lord’s is the “home of cricket”, one of the oldest cricket grounds, with a 28,000 sitting capacity and a history of 100 Test matches played there. Headingley has a 17,000 capacity, Sophia Gardens - 15,600, Rose Bowl - 25,000, The Oval, - 23,500 and Edgbaston, - 25,000. The venues are easily accessible by bus, taxi, road, and train, with Lords being close to the middle of London. Marble Arch is just 1.5 miles away from it. The number of teams competing in the 2019 CWC is ten. England automatically qualifies for the list since it is the host, and seven teams will come from the eight highest-ranking ICC, One Day International (ODI) teams. The winner and runner-up of the 2018 ICC World Cup Qualifiers (in Bangladesh) will complete the list. The current ICC ODI list has Australia at the top, followed by India, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England, Bangladesh and West Indies, which occupies the eighth position. The change in the qualification criteria results in a fewer number of teams participating in the tournaments after the 2011 and 2015 world cups consisted of 14 teams each. The latest top 10 ODI players are South African AB de Villiers, Indian Virat Kohli, and Australian Kane Williamson. Others are Sri Lankan Tillekeratne Dilshan, Indian Shikhar Dhawan, Australian Ross Taylor, Indian, MS Dhoni, Australians Glenn Maxwell, and Aaron Finch in that order. Australia won 2015’s CWC beating New Zealand in the final by seven wickets. New Zealand’s Martin Guptill had the most runs and the highest score, Australia’s Mitchell Starc, the most wickets, and New Zealand’s Tim Southee was the best in bowling. Total runs scored were 23,531, Total wickets were 751, and the average runs per wicket were 31.33. The average attendance for this tournament was 21,071, and the final match had a record attendance of 93, 013. New Zealand and Australia had the highest attendance rates, and the world cup recorded the best attendance rates in history. In October last year, the ICC announced that it signed an eight-year-long partnership with Star Middle East and Star India for 2015 to 2023 ICC events audio-visual rights. It is the biggest commercial deal that the ICC ever signed for a global broadcasting partnership. Matua Wines, Bundaberg Rum partnered with ICC in the 2015 CWC, to supply beer at the major sporting events in Australia and New Zealand. MRF Tyres became ICC’s global partner in 2014, Hablot the Official Timekeeper, and Think Wise, Room to Read, The McGrath Foundation and New Zealand Cancer Society were the CSR partners. Justification This fact sheet is appropriate for the CWC because it highlights all the events that precede the 2019 tournament. Nicholson, Sherwood and Kerr (2015) advise that a fact sheet should only contain information that has proof. All the ideas represented here are extracted from the ICC’s official website and from online articles by ESPN Sports, who were the authorized broadcaster for all ICC events until 2015. From the highlights of an appropriate fact sheet by Nicholson et.al, the above section covers all the relevant points from previous CWC championships. It contains details from the beginning of the tournaments to the events that will affect the 2019 CWC Media Guide The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup Hosts: England and Wales 30th May – 15th July, 2019 Media Guide Guide Contents About the Guide/Contents 2 About the International Cricket Council 3-5 The Cricket World Cup – Past and Present 6-10 Recap of the 2015 Cricket World Cup 11-13 Welcome Letters from the ICC President and the Major Sponsors 14-15 ODI Top Eight Teams 16-22 Top Two Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 23-24 ODI Top Ten Player Biographies 25-29 2019 Cricket Fixtures and Schedules 30-31 Cricket Ground Information 32-42 Chief Broadcasters and Media Coverage 43-45 Competition Rules and Format 46-48 Country Head Coach Profiles 49-52 Previous Winners of the ICC Cricket World Cup 53-55 Upcoming ICC World Events 55-62 Previous Winners of the ICC Cricket World Cup Of the ten ICC full members, Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe and England have never won the CWC. Australia won in 1987, and three times consecutively from 1999 to 2007. It won again this year, making it the defending champions of The 2019 Cricket World Cup. India won in 1983 and 2011; Sri Lanka won in 1996, Pakistan in 1992, and West Indies in 1975 and 1979. The countries that won the CWC while hosting the event was Sri Lanka in 1996 as it co-hosted with India and Pakistan, India in 2011 as it co-hosted with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and Australia in 2015. The 2015 finals were actual between the two co-hosts, Australia, and New Zealand, where Australia beat its rival by seven wickets. None of the associate members of the ICC ever won the World Cup, and only Ireland got to the Super 8 level back in 2007. Other associated teams that gave good performance in the past are Scotland and the United Arab Emirates who made it to the Group Stage: Scotland in 1999 and 2007, and the United Arab Emirates in 1996. This year very few ICC associate teams with an ODI status will have a chance to participate in the CWC, and none of the ICC affiliate members will take part (Hundley and Billings, 2010). The reason behind this selection is that the council wants to give spectators unrivaled quality in the one-day games so that they can watch the best countries fight for the championship title. The National Australian Cricket team played its first cricket test game in 1877, making it the oldest in Test Cricket. In total, it played a total of 780 Test Matches, won 366 of them, drew 204, tied in 2, and lost 208. This team also participates in the Twenty20 games, and One-Day cricket matches (Raney and Bryant, 2006). The West Indies Team (Windies) is multi-national representing 15 countries. The team had outstanding performances between the 1970s and 1990s, in both ODI and Test Cricket. It also has a long list of players who made it to the world’s best cricketers listing (http://www.icc-cricket.com, 2015). Pakistan Cricket Team won 54.62% of the 851 ODIs it played. It participated in 92 Twenty20 International tournaments, which is the highest any team ever recorded. It also actively takes part in Test Matches. Sri Lanka’s Cricket Team (The Lions) played the 1926-1927 crickets for the first time internationally. Its CWC success started in the 1990s and culminated with the team winning the 1996 CWC. It came second in the 2007 and 2011 CWCs and holds the world record for the highest team total. India’s Cricket Team (Team India) played in the 1932 Lord’s Test matches for the first time. Since then, its progress was slow, picking up speed in the 1970s winning its first CWC in 1983. It was the first team to win a CWC at home in 2011, and one of the three teams to win a CWC twice. Justification The media guide is appropriate for the 2019 CWC because its contents are a source of facts for anyone interested in the event. They have data on the most important participants in the games, who are the ICC officials, partners, national cricket teams participating in the games, their coaches, and the best players. This section of the media guide is important according to Boyle and Hynes (2009) since they point out that sport always features the aspect of nationality as a form of identity. Highlighting the countries that won the CWC tournaments gives both fans and the players pride in the achievements and sustained presence of their teams in the game (Hoye, Nicholson & Smith, 2008). Media Release Change in the Number of 2019s CWC Participating Teams The number of countries participating in the 2019 CWC will undergo discussion by the ICC, but there is a small chance for change. That is the response from the President of the International Cricket Council, Dave Richardson (Hammond and King, 2005) . Even though the associate teams playing in the 2015 World Cup had an impressive performance, Richardson maintains that the number of teams participating in the 2019 event will reduce from the previous 14 to 10. This decision is despite the fact that in the 2015 world cup, the number was to reduce from 2011’s 14 to 10, but associate teams appealed to the ICC and in the end, the number stayed at 14. The ICC maintains ten teams because it has to put commercial implications of participating associate teams into consideration. The factors include the number of attendees that associate games attracted in the past, the viewing figures, and the rating of these teams (Lemmer, 2002). Since the 2015 World Cup attracted large masses, the ICC does not want to downplay the 2019 event. Richardson justified that the number of teams playing in the tournament should not be an issue. The most important aspect is to ensure that the associate teams get better chances of qualifying for a World Cup. He goes on to note that the ICC made a lot of progress in that concern, and there will be better performances in future. The President’s last remarks were that the ICC is putting in efforts to spread the game to other countries, though, that goal is not their priority (Schultz, 2005). The most important agenda for them is to make sure that the existing teams are on board at all times, and they get unlimited occasions to give superior performances in future. That is also the main reason the council changed the qualification criteria, where ratings determine who gets to the World Cup (Cricinfo, 2015). Even though the traditional ICC full member teams have a high chance of qualifying, associate teams like Ireland and Afghanistan can take the top spots. Justification This media release is appropriate for the 2019 CWC because it talks about an issue where cricket fans have an interest (Hall, Nichols, Moynahan & Taylor, 2007). Several bloggers criticized the decision of the ICC officials, stating that a World Cup tournament had to grow bigger and become more exciting. For associate teams, the fewer slots mean that they have a smaller chance of qualifying for the CWC, and that locks them out of one of the biggest international cricket events. The ICC board changed their minds concerning the 2015 championship slots, so the associate teams had some hope that the same might happen. The media release points out that the 10-team decision is final. This information is relevant to the media companies interested in covering the 2019 event, fans and ICC teams. They now know what to expect from the upcoming tournament (Kalantri, 2001). Media Advisory The 2018 ICC World Cup Qualifier The ICC World Cricket League Championship finalists will play in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, where the top two teams in the qualifier will finalize the ICC Cricket World Cup teams. Other teams involved in the qualifier tournaments will be those that occupy the bottom four positions at the ICC ODI rankings by September 2017. Since the World Cup Qualifier has ten teams, the best countries from the World Cricket League (WCL) will fill up the rest of the slots. The WCL is ongoing, and will continue for the next two years to conclude in December 2017. The Cricket World Cup Qualifier will then commence on March 1st running through to the 4t of April. Bangladesh will host the Qualifier, and the format for the game will be List A Cricket and One Day International. A total of 34 matches will take place, and it is wise to remember that Ireland and Afghanistan will not be taking part in this event. The teams received a boost to qualify directly for the CWC (Cricinfo, 2015). They will, therefore, join the ten nations playing in the Test Matches, so they fall under the ranking-based qualifying system. Kenya and Nepal finished in third and fourth position at the World Cricket League Championships, 2nd Division. They are the nations filling in the gap left by Ireland and Afghanistan (Amazon.com, 2015). The role of the media in this event will be to point out the improvement of skills or any disappointments from the teams. Aqib Javed, the former fast bowler from Pakistan, supports that these competitions offer leading associate teams chances to hone their skills, access progress and taste a portion of top-level cricket. They also have the opportunity to compete against traditional teams, and every win is an advantage for them (Lemmer, 2004). Justification The Media advisory above is appropriate for the 2019 Cricket World Cup because the event it advertises is relevant for the outcome of the world cup (Nicholson, et.al, 2015). Since the CWC attracts a lot of media interest from all over the world, the world qualifiers will be an occasion that warrants close to the same amount media of media time. Spectators are eager to see how the countries will perform in the qualifier as it is an international incident by itself (History Hub, 2015). REFERENCE Amazon.com, (2015). Media Relations in Sport: Brad Schultz, Philip H. Caskey, Craig Esherick: 9781935412946: Amazon.com: Books. [online] Available at: http://www.amazon.com/Media-Relations-Sport-Brad-Schultz/dp/1935412949 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2015]. Boyle, R., & Haynes, R. (2009). Power play: Sport, the media and popular culture. Edinburgh University Press. Cricinfo, (2015). ICC Cricket World Cup. [online] Available at: http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-cricket-world-cup-2015/content/series/509587.html [Accessed 14 Oct. 2015]. Hall, A., Nichols, W., Moynahan, P., & Taylor, J. (2007). Media relations in sport. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Hammond, T. and King, D. (2005). Sports. New York: DK Pub. History Hub, (2015). The Impact of Pay-TV on Sport. [online] Available at: http://historyhub.ie/the-impact-of-pay-tv-on-sport [Accessed 14 Oct. 2015]. Hoye, R., Nicholson, M., & Smith, A. (2008). Unique Aspects of Managing Sport Organizations.” 21st Century Management: A reference Handbook. Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage. Pg 499-507 http://www.icc-cricket.com, (2015). Cricket World Cup 2015 - ICC Cricket | Official Website. [online] Available at: http://www.icc-cricket.com/cricket-world-cup [Accessed 14 Oct. 2015]. Hundley, H. and Billings, A. (2010). Examining identity in sports media. Los Angeles: Sage Publications. International Cricket Council Website. (2015). 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