ESS renews English cricket rights for 7 years

MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has renewed the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) rights for seven years.

This will include the multi-platform rights to broadcast its domestic and international matches in England.

The deal, which runs from 2013 to 2019, incorporates rights for television, online, mobile and radio, covering India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh among others across Asia. The broadcast arrangement also includes territories in North Africa.

As a part of this agreement, ESS will broadcast more than 300 days of live International cricket action, including 47 Test Matches, 63 One Day Internationals and 15 Twenty20 games.

Key highlights of this new agreement include India?s next two tours to England in 2014 and 2018 as well as three Ashes series in 2013, 2015 and 2019.

Major Test playing nations will be competing in England, including New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa.

In addition, ESS will broadcast 60 days of ECB?s domestic cricket every year, including the Friends Life T20 competition, the CB40 tournament, the LV=County Championship, as well as England Lions, England Under 19s and England Women?s cricket. Specifically for the Indian subcontinent, the exciting cricket action will be available during prime time making it a very interesting proposition for fans and advertisers alike.

ESS MD Manu Sawhney said, "We are delighted to further extend our partnership with ECB with whom we have shared a very strong relationship over the past two decades."

ECB CEO David Collier said, "This new agreement demonstrates the enormous appetite for cricket worldwide and the global pulling power of a successful England team and a vibrant County game.

"In a challenging economic climate with all sports facing tough competition for funding streams, it will also provide an important source of additional revenue for funding the development of our game at all levels.

"TV audiences for cricket are expanding rapidly in Asia and the Middle-East and we look forward to working closely with ESS to give both our international and county teams the widest possible TV exposure over the next seven years."

ESS had earlier renewed its deal with Cricket Australia in December 2011. That was the first time that a broadcast deal with Cricket Australia gave ESS rights to showcase two India series. India is slated to play four Test matches and a tri-series with England as the third team in the 2014-2015 season. This tri-series, featuring India, Australia and England and scheduled right before the ICC World Cup in 2015 is already looked upon as the signature event of the year and is positioned as the ?Clash of the Titans?. India will visit Australia again for7 ODIs and2 Twenty20 matches in the year 2015-2016. More recently Star india had bagged the rights for india cricket. Those rights will be sub licensed to ESS gioving the broadcaster a dominant position in cricket.

ESS over the next 13 months, will have over 400 match days of cricket starting with the ongoing West Indies? tour of England to all the way to ICC Champions Trophy in England in June 2013.

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