The England & Wales Cricket Board [ECB] today announced the award of Media Rights for all of its domestic First Class County and international matches, played at home, from 2020-2024.
The new five-year agreements secure strong strategic partnerships, wide distribution and increased financial investment to support the growth of the game, at all levels, in England and Wales.
Ground breaking partnerships with Sky Sports and BBC will deliver:
A combined income of £1.1 billion for all media rights – audio-visual, digital and audio – for use in the UK and Ireland.
A powerful approach for driving engagement and fuelling grass-roots cricket with premier broadcast partner Sky Sports, shaped by the impactful Sky Ride model.
Live international T20s, matches from the women’s and New T20 competitions, primetime evening highlights, digital clips and radio’s Test Match Special delivered by BBC.
Announcing the new long-term partnerships, Tom Harrison, Chief Executive Officer of ECB, said: “This is a great result for cricket. ECB has secured the reach, revenue and relevance the game deserves, to help it to grow.
“Together, these new deals will deliver the partnership, distribution and investment that will fuel the future of our game, driving recreational, professional and international cricket for years to come.
“Sky Sports have offered a true partnership – more than a broadcast deal – with their shared vision for cricket. Their innovation and production standards are widely acclaimed. Here, they further increase their live commitment and have added bold ideas to drive engagement and to help to get a bat and ball in more hands.
“BBC are valuable long-term partners, bringing cricket to listeners, viewers and a new digital audience. We are delighted they will go to another level with live coverage of international and domestic T20 – men’s and women’s – alongside prime-time highlights shows and a commitment to taking the game to even wider audiences.
“Right through this process we’ve been excited to witness a fresh approach to the game and what it offers. This has transformed our relationships and our media deals. I want to thank everyone who has talked with us, shown their enthusiasm and added to our vision for the future.”
Welcoming the announcement, Colin Graves, ECB Chairman, said: “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 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.
“This work will build on the dialogue we’ve encouraged across the game over the last two years and which has already led to a shared framework for decision-making in Cricket Unleashed, an approach for an inspiring New T20 competition, and All Stars Cricket, our new entry-level participation programme.”
An ‘Invitation to Tender’ was distributed to all interested parties on Friday 12 May 2017. The document included detailed explanation of the Rights Packages, Evaluation Criteria and Bid Process as well as extensive context on the future ambitions of the ECB to grow the game.
The deadline for submission of bids was at 10am on Wednesday 28 June.
Following this all offers were considered by an Evaluation Panel -comprised of five individuals, including the ECB’s CEO and Chairman, with extensive experience in cricket, business and broadcast – who held delegated authority from the Board to award the rights.
Their unanimous decision was confirmed to the ECB Board in a conference call earlier today [Friday 30th June 2017].
MEDIA RIGHTS DISTRIBUTION: 2020 TO 2024
Sky Sports: Test matches Live / Highlights / Clips International T20 – men Live / Highlights / Clips One-Day Internationals – men Live / Highlights / Clips England women’s Internationals Live / Highlights / Clips New T20 competition Live / Highlights / Clips Women’s T20 competition Live / Highlights / Clips County Championship Live / Highlights / Clips County T20 Live / Highlights / Clips One-Day Cup Live / Highlights / Clips
BBC TV: Test matches Highlights / Clips International T20 – men 2 x Live / Highlights / Clips One-Day Internationals – men Highlights / Clips England women’s internationals 1x T20 Live / Highlights / Clips New T20 competition 10 x Live incl. Final / Clips Women’s T20 competition 8 x Live incl. Final / Clips County Championship Clips County T20 Clips One-Day Cup Clips
BBC Radio: Live coverage of all competitions, domestic and international
