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ricket Australia (CA) has reportedly rejected an offer over $10 million per year from McDonalds for domestic Twenty20 Big Bash League (BBL) tournament naming rights, in favour of long-term partner, KFC, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

KFC had reportedly reached an ‘in-principle’ agreement to re-sign as the naming rights partner of the BBL before McDonald’s wrote directly to CA chairman, Earl Eddings in an attempt to earn the partnership.

The new deal with KFC is for an estimated $8 million per year and is set to extend further on the partnership that has spanned since the creation of the competition in 2011 and was last renewed in 2017 for $6.5 million per year.

The move has been criticised as CA continues to face reported drastic financial struggles due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused CA to drop funding to state member federations by as much as 25% and stand down over 200 staff on 80% pay cuts.

A CA spokeswoman hinted the deal had more to do with the longstanding loyalty shown by KFC throughout the history of the BBL.

“KFC is a longstanding partner of ours and loyalty is important to us during times like this,” the CA spokeswoman said.

McDonald’s was growing in frustration over not being able to secure a meeting with CA to discuss the potential deal before writing directly to Eddings, with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting McDonald’s had made several offers over the last 12 months for the naming rights of the competition.