The BBC could gain further The Hundred fixtures
The BBC and Sky Sports will reportedly continue to share some rights as part of the latter’s proposed ten-year ECB deal.
The Times has revealed that the pay-TV broadcaster is in talks with the ECB over a ten-year rights deal, that would see it air all domestic and home international cricket.
The possibility of a long-term deal was revealed in January, and now further details have emerged. According to the report, ECB chief executive Tom Harrison is keen to complete an agreement before he is expected to leave the organisation this year.
Any deal isn’t expected to bring in much more than the current £1.1bn over five years, which ends in 2024, but would give the ECB extra stability. It would also continue the BBC and Sky Sports’ rights sharing agreement, which sees four T20 internationals (two men’s and two women’s) and ten The Hundred matches, including the finals, shown free-to-air.
It’s possible that the ECB will ask for further Hundred fixtures to be shown on the public broadcaster, especially after the record-breaking viewing figures it saw in the first season.
Sky Sports has also made its own efforts to make showpiece matches free-to-air, with the 2019 England men’s World Cup final victory shown on Channel 4 and the 2022 women’s World Cup final, also featuring England, shown on Sky Sports’ YouTube channel and free-to-air Sky Showcase.
However, any media rights deal will also have to gain the backing of the county sides, and discussions are ongoing with the clubs. The counties own the rights to anything broadcast from their grounds, and players that are not centrally contracted.
They will likely want ton continue live streaming the County Championship, 50-over, and T20 Blast games that are not shown by Sky Sports, and show them through platforms such as YouTube. County sides have seen success using this model, with Somerset winning the Broadcast Sport Award for YouTube Channel of the Year in 2021.
While this deal will give Sky Sports the rights to home internationals, the fragmentation of away internationals’ rights is likely to continue. BT Sport showed the most recent Ashes series, and Channel 4 picked up England’s tour of India last year.
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