Sky Sports Bags Fresh Broadcasting Deal From ECB, BBC Also Gains Benefit
Apr 6, 2019 at 2:11 PM
The Story:
The England Cricket Board announced the results of its broadcast auction on Friday. The auction revealed a couple of exciting developments in the TV right segment.
The major Sky Sports fought off the advances of BT Sport to be the main broadcaster in a combined package worth GBP 1.1billion over five years.
The new deal, which comes into force in 2020.
Live action returns to BBC:
For the first time in almost 21 years, live telecast will be returning to the BBC won the free to air, digital and radio rights packages put up for sale by the ECB. This also means the free-to-air TV service will be active on BBC for the first time since 2005.
Announcing the deal, BBC Director General Tony Hall said: “The BBC is delighted. And the public will be too. It’s long been our ambition to bring live cricket back to BBC television. I’m thrilled to see that ambition realised.
“Cricket is an integral part of the British summer and the BBC will be putting its full weight behind the nation’s favourite summer sport. Our aim will be to make the new T20 competition a huge success.
There will be a host of benefits for the BBC. They will show 12 live games. Two of those match will be England Twenty20 international while 10 matches, including the final, will be the new Twenty20 tournament which is to be launched in 2020.
Apart from the men’s game, they will also host one women’s T20 internationals per year and 8 matches from the new domestic season.
The radio broadcasting deal has also been extended. The highly popular Test Match Special will continue to host live cricket on the radio. Moreover, the BBC’s website and social media channels will also have an exclusive right to digital clips.
Colin Graves, ECB Chairman, added: “Through these exceptional new partnerships with Sky Sports and BBC we have a unique opportunity to give cricket a very bright future.
“It is vital that the game now takes the time to plan ahead and invest strategically in all the right places. The ECB Board will lead on this, working closely with all of our stakeholders at every level of the game.
“The professional players – the men and women who entertain us, inspire people to play and draw us to the grounds – will rightly be part of these conversations.”