New Zealand Cricket has forecast a preliminary deficit of $7.3 million for the financial year that ended on 31 July, four times the $1.8 million shortfall it had budgeted for, and it has responded by pulling 40 of the 64 Super Smash matches off television this summer.
The figure was released by the governing body on 19 August in a statement on its own corporate news page. It described the gap between the budget and the result as a material change, and put most of the blame on an accounting problem rather than a collapse in income.
New Zealand Cricket said it had budgeted for revenue from a multi-year domestic broadcast contract that had already been banked in earlier financial years. In other words the money existed, it had simply been counted in the wrong summer. Two other things pushed the number further out. Income from the partnership with sponsor Dream11 fell after India changed its gambling laws, and the organisation’s overall costs rose.
Chief executive Geoff Allott did not try to dress it up. “As an organisation we accept that this financial performance isn’t good enough, nor is it sustainable,” he said.
“It’s important that we own this updated budget deficit and immediately put in place the necessary steps to adjust and ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
He was also careful to draw a line under what the deficit is not. “To be clear, NZC had received all the broadcast revenue it should have, it is not lost income.”
That distinction matters, because the practical consequences land on the domestic game regardless. Allott confirmed a full review of internal financial processes, a reassessment of budgets for the coming year, and a cut to the broadcast schedule for what will be the final season of the Super Smash in its present form.
After consultation with the Major Associations and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association, the plan is for 24 of the 64 matches to be broadcast across 12 double-header match-days, including the finals, in the competition’s traditional December and January window.
Those 64 matches are not all men’s cricket. The men’s Super Smash and the women’s Super Smash each ran to 32 matches last summer and are scheduled alongside each other, which is what makes a double-header day possible. Twelve double headers therefore means roughly a dozen televised games for each competition, out of 32. For the women’s game in particular, which has spent a decade building an audience largely off the back of being shown next to the men, that is a meaningful reduction in visibility in the season before the competition is replaced.
There is a further complication. TVNZ’s broadcast rights agreement concluded after last season, and New Zealand Cricket says it is still in discussions to make sure the 24 surviving matches stay free to air in this country. Nothing has been confirmed publicly about who will carry them.
Allott linked the decision directly to the loss of the competition’s naming sponsor. “The loss of Super Smash title sponsor Dream11, coupled with the FY26 budget deficit, meant this was the most financially responsible decision for the competition,” he said.
“Our support and commitment to the community game, as well as the players and fans, remains a key priority and we’re confident that we are taking a considered and responsible approach in the circumstances.”
The timing is awkward for a competition already living on borrowed time. New Zealand Cricket has been working towards a franchise Twenty20 league called NZ20 to replace the Super Smash, and in May RNZ reported that the new competition would not be played until the 2027-28 season at the earliest, having originally been targeted at January 2027. The Super Smash was given one more summer as a result. That summer will now be its quietest on television since it began.
The financial picture for the year ahead looks very different, and the reason is India. New Zealand Cricket is projecting a net surplus of more than $10 million in the coming financial year, driven by broadcast and commercial revenue from the inbound Indian tour. India play five Twenty20 internationals, five one-day internationals and two tests between late October and the start of December, the largest inbound tour by number of matches that New Zealand has hosted. The first Twenty20 international is at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on 22 October.
Allott used that contrast to make a point about how the books actually work. “That being said, we are acutely aware that as a business our financial model over a four-year cycle is typically lumpy, so we need to be prudent to ensure the long-term sustainability of cricket.”
Lumpy is the right word. New Zealand Cricket’s revenue depends heavily on which touring sides turn up in a given summer, and an Indian tour is worth several years of most other visitors. The organisation’s problem is that its costs do not rise and fall on the same cycle, which is how a body expecting a $10 million surplus one year can post a $7.3 million deficit the year before.
The $7.3 million figure is not final. It remains subject to the completion of the annual audit, expected in early November, which also involves a shift to Public Benefit Entity financial reporting standards. New Zealand Cricket has warned that the audited position may differ from the preliminary number.
The full Super Smash schedule, including which 12 days make the broadcast cut, is due to be released next month. RNZ first reported the deficit on 20 August.
Do you still watch the Super Smash, and does taking 40 games off television change that for you? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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