Broadcast partners sign up for Global T20 Canada

Organisers of the Global T20 Canada, a new Twenty20 cricket competition, have revealed broadcast partners for the event ahead of its opening day tomorrow (Thursday).

Canadian broadcast group Asian Television Network has secured domestic rights to the tournament, which will run from June 28 to July 15 at Maple Leaf Cricket Club north of Toronto, while Hotstar will also stream coverage of the league.

Elsewhere, pay-television broadcaster Star Sports has acquired rights in India, while the league will also be covered by free-to-air digital channel FreeSports (UK), pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports (Australia), pay-television broadcaster Geo Sports (Pakistan), pay-television broadcaster Orbit Showtime Network (Middle East), pay-television broadcaster Gazi TV (Bangladesh) and pay-television broadcaster SportsMax (Caribbean).

Five Canadian franchises will be joined by a ‘B’ team representing the West Indies. Global T20 Canada has drawn a host of star names from international cricket, including disgraced Australian pair Steve Smith and David Warner.

Smith and Warner (pictured), former captain and vice-captain of the national team respectively, are currently serving 12-month bans imposed by Cricket Australia in March for the high-profile ball tampering scandal that hit Australia’s tour of South Africa. However, the pair are free to compete in overseas competitions.

ATN will broadcast the league via CBN, a national sports channel, and Prakash Naidoo, the broadcaster’s vice-president of sales and general manager, has high hopes for its success.

He told the Canadian Press news agency: “We're not putting a premium price on it because they say you have to speculate to accumulate.”