Pan-Asian sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports has confirmed a renewal of a rights deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board for seven years, from 2012-13 to 2018-19, covering the territories of Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
The multi-platform agreement was first reported by TV Sports Markets on Friday (TV Sports Markets newsletter issue 16:10).
The agreement includes all of the England national team’s home Test, one-day international and Twenty20 fixtures, as well as 60 days of coverage every year from all of the board’s domestic competitions, plus England junior team and women’s team matches. The deal covers India’s next two tours to England in 2014 and 2018 and three ‘Ashes’ series between England and Australia scheduled for 2013, 2015 and 2019.
“Television audiences for cricket are expanding rapidly in Asia and the Middle East and we look forward to working closely with ESPN Star Sports to give both our international and county teams the widest possible TV exposure over the next seven years,” David Collier, the chief executive of the board, said.