In a moment of marketing genius, Cricket Australia have today announced that anyone wishing to listen or watch live streams of the Australian summer will need to download their app and potentially pay $30 for the privilege.
The product is called ‘Live Pass’ and discriminates against anyone who lives in modern times and doesn’t use a TV or terrestrial radio to consume their cricket.
Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland explains:
It’s classic bait and switch. It’s working perfectly. We allowed the ABC to stream the audio of games live via their website for years. It’s like heroin. People became addicted.
Then we video streamed all of the Southern Stars and Australia A games live on our website this year. Remember all those double hundreds that Phil Hughes made?
Now that people are hooked, we’ve blocked all the streams, both audio and video, until you download our app.
If you want to watch a stream, you will pay us $30.
We are going to be so rich.
When asked how limiting access to the games helps grow the game, Sutherland said:
The ICC are giving us more money than ever, but we want more. We just sold the TV rights for $500 million.
The 5,000 stooges who hand over $30 will increase our coffers by another $150k
That $150k is much more important to us than allowing millions of people to listen to Jim Maxwell call the cricket while at work.
When asked how someone on a PC could at least listen to the audio stream, Sutherland said:
Oh yeah. Well you can do it via our website, but you will need to click about 46 times and share an email with us so we can send you KFC promotions. That’s if you can get it to work.
But did you realise that if you stream via the app and your data signal drops out that the app crashes?
We call that ‘added engagement’
Long time cricket follower Richie Benaud of Sydney said:
Stuff Cricket Australia if they think I’m handing over my hard earned 30 dollars. I’m going to watch the games via the marvellous illegal streaming sites. It’s free, I don’t need an app and it works on my PC.
Why would I waste my phone’s data allowance? Do they think the public are technologically challenged?
Clowns
OW MUCH!!! Best to watch on an illegal stream. That’s what we do in Yorkshire. Sky TV are getting nowt’ from me…
The ABC have perfectly good app for streaming radio, heck, TuneIn radio is also great. Only the CA arseclowns could overcomplicate, then break something that even Prof Deano should be able to figure out