MUMBAI: Aarti Dabas is to join the England And Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as Chief Revenue Officer, charged with leading and shaping the game’s commercial and revenue strategy.
She will join the ECB having most recently served as Chief Media Officer for Formula E where she was responsible for driving the sport’s global growth.
Before that, she spent more than 12 years at the International Cricket Council (ICC), including five years as Head of Media Rights, Broadcast and Digital.
During her tenure, she led the global governing body’s media rights strategy to deliver significant revenue growth, established its in-house content production unit, ICC TV, and led the organisation’s transformational growth across digital.
She also played an important role in the ICC’s strategic shift to invest more in women’s cricket and its coverage, delivering record-breaking Women’s Cricket World Cups, including the 2017 edition in England and Wales.
As ECB chief revenue officer, she will drive negotiations and management of key partnerships across a diverse range of revenue streams including broadcast rights, media deals, and commercial sponsorships.
She will also lead the ECB’s marketing functions across competitions and events, champion innovation, and identify new and creative commercial opportunities. She will join the ECB in the new year.
Richard Gould, ECB Chief Executive Officer, said: “Aarti has an outstanding track record of driving sustainable commercial growth and engaging a diverse fan base, and I’m delighted to welcome her to the ECB.
“By growing cricket in recent years we have been able to invest in the sport at every level, from getting more children playing and supporting the grassroots game to running our England teams, while also delivering record funding to our counties. It’s vital that we continue to grow cricket’s reach, relevance and financial sustainability, and Aarti brings invaluable knowledge and expertise from a range of commercial environments to help us achieve this.”
Dabas said, “I am grateful for the opportunity and incredibly energised to be back in cricket. Cricket has been a lifelong passion, and to contribute to the sport’s commercial growth in England and Wales and beyond, is an honour.
“The ECB’s ‘Inspiring Generations’ strategy and commitment to becoming the country’s most inclusive team sport by 2028 is a powerful north star. I am eager to leverage my experience to accelerate this vision.
“I look forward to working with Richard Gould, the ECB Board, colleagues at the ECB, commercial partners and the wider global cricket family to grow the sport while embracing its rich traditions, its push for diversity and the future of the media and consumer landscape.”
Dabas is a senior commercial executive and has held executive-level leadership roles for over 10 years. She joined Formula E as Chief Media Officer in June 2020, where she was responsible for driving the sport’s global growth across media distribution, broadcast programming, content, digital, gaming and technology. During her tenure, Aarti implemented a new global media strategy that delivered record-breaking audience growth and was an integral part of the organisation’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) working group.
Before that, she spent more than 12 years at the International Cricket Council (ICC). As Head of Media Rights, Broadcasting and Digital (a position Aarti held for five and a half years and served on the organisation’s senior management team), she led the media rights, content, production and digital teams. She and her team delivered significant revenue growth for the sport, launched ICC TV, the in-house host broadcast and content production function and transformed its digital products and content output. A passionate advocate for inclusion, she also pushed for greater visibility and investment in women’s cricket which resulted in record-breaking Women’s Cricket World Cups.
She has previously worked at Ten Sports.
