Australian pay-television operator Fox Sports and the Nine commercial television network jointly acquired rights for national team events operated by the International Cricket Council, the sport’s global governing body.
Fox and Nine retained domestic rights in a four-year deal, from 2012 to 2015, with pan-Asian sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports, the ICC’s global media distribution rights partner.
The rights include coverage of the upcoming 2012 World Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka, the Women’s Cricket World Cup and Champions trophy in 2013, the U-19 Cricket World Cup and World Twenty20 tournaments in 2014 and the 2015 Cricket World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
The Australian newspaper said that Nine would follow up its renewal of the ICC rights by “vigorously” pursuing a new broadcast deal with Cricket Australia, the sport’s governing body in Australia, when negotiations begin next year. Nine is nearing the end of its seven-year rights deal with Cricket Australia, which runs from 2006 to 2013.