UK pay-television broadcaster Sky has secured exclusive live rights to England’s forthcoming limited overs cricket series against India as part of a broader deal.
Following the current series of Test Matches, England’s tour of India continues with five T20 internationals from March 12-20, followed by three one-day internationals from March 23-28.
Under the new rights deal, Sky will also broadcast India’s home tours against South Africa (October 2021), New Zealand (November 2021), West Indies (January 2022) and Sri Lanka (February 2022).
England’s current Test tour of India is being aired by free-to-air broadcaster Channel 4, bringing live Test cricket to UK free-to-air television for the first time since 2005. Channel 4 finalised a deal with commercial and pay-television broadcaster Star, which holds global rights to all of India’s international home matches until the end of 2022-23.
It was thought that neither Sky nor pay-television rival BT bid for the Test rights. Both were put off by Star’s asking price for exclusive rights to the tour, which informed sources say was considerably lower than the £20m figure published in the UK media.
Sky already holds exclusive rights to the Indian Premier League in the UK and Ireland in a three-year deal from 2020 to 2022. The latest agreement means Sky Sports is now home to International Cricket Council tournaments; England, India, Pakistan and South Africa home matches; and the IPL and Pakistan Super League.
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
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