Sri Lanka Premier League seals deals with ESPN and ATN

Somerset Entertainment Ventures, the commercial rights-holder for the Sri Lanka Premier League Twenty20 cricket competition, agreed rights deals for the competition with pay-television broadcaster ESPN in several territories worldwide and with Canadian broadcast group Asian Television Network.

ESPN secured rights to broadcast the first season of the tournament, which commenced on Saturday and will run through to August 31. It will show the competition in the UK and Ireland on its pay-television channel and will also provide online highlights.

ESPN will also show the tournament online in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.

ATN, Canada’s largest South Asian-focused broadcaster and a major distributor of cricket content, said it had secured a seven-year deal for the exclusive Canadian broadcast rights for the league.