ESPN has struck a new exclusive six-year media rights deal in the USA with New Zealand Cricket (NZC) for the rights to all international cricket played in the country.
NZC has already signed deal with Amazon for Live Streaming of New Zealand Cricket in India. Amazon India for the first time will be live streaming any international cricket event in India.
The agreement covers more than 100 men’s and women’s Test, One Day International and Twenty20 International matches played in New Zealand until the end of the 2025-26 season, with the action to air on the ESPN+ streaming service, which costs $5.99 per month and counts some 10.3 million subscribers.
ESPN already held NZC rights in USA in a previous six-year deal, but the new contract also comprises 50 matches per season from Super Smash, New Zealand’s domestic T20 league.
The first game of the new deal takes place tomorrow, when New Zealand host the West Indies in Auckland in the first of three T20Is. The game begins at 1am ET.
New Zealand and West Indies will play a two Test match series next month, with other tours scheduled for New Zealand during the 2020-21 season including Pakistan, Bangladesh and rival Australia.
Russell Wolff, executive vice-president and general manager of ESPN+, said: “Cricket fans are among the most passionate in the world, and the Black Caps [men’s national team] and White Ferns [women’s national team] are among the world’s great teams. We’re thrilled to build on our great relationship with New Zealand Cricket and bring even more top-level global cricket to the growing and dedicated audience on ESPN+.”
NZC chief executive David White added: “The partnership with ESPN will help us extend our teams’ global reach and build closer relationships around the world – which is one of our key objectives. The USA has always been an important market for us and we’re looking forward to continuing to bring.
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
#Cricketnews #ESPN+ #NZC
