Sky Sports reveals broadcast plans for The Hundred

Sky Sports has revealed its broadcast coverage plans for The Hundred, which includes selected games streaming live on TikTok for the first time.

All 60 games in the competition will be broadcast live on Sky Sports’ dedicated channel Sky Sports The Hundred and Sky Sports Mix. Both opening games of the tournament will be live streamed on Sky Sports’ TikTok channel to further engage a new audience of young cricket fans.

All women’s matches and every men’s match taking place on Mondays and Thursdays will also be available live on the Sky Cricket YouTube channel.

To further enhance fan engagement of its coverage, Sky Sports has introduced the Sky Sports Power Meter, an on-screen graphic using Hawkeye data that measures the biggest hits.

The Hundred Avatars are also back, and have been further enhanced from last year, with a new ‘record and share’ function available in the Sky Sports app. This makes it possible for fans to share their Avatar experiences of The Hundred stars with friends online and have a chance to be shown on Sky Sports’ coverage.

The men’s competition starts on 3 August with Southern Brave launching their title defence taking on Welsh Fire at Southampton. The 2021 women’s winners, the Oval Invincibles, kick off the women’s competition a week later on 11 August.

England’s former World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan joins the Sky Sports commentary team this year. He will also continue to play in The Hundred for London Spirit. He joins Stuart Broad, Kevin Pietersen, Ebony Rainford-Brent and Daren Sammy as well as Sky regulars including Nasser Hussain and Ian Ward. Presenters Kass Naidoo, Zainab Abbas and Jacqueline Shepherd.

Normanno Pisani, head of media partnerships UK and Ireland for TikTok said: “The pace and excitement of The Hundred lends itself perfectly to TikTok. It gives fans a unique window into the tournament and a chance to relive all the best wickets with exclusive behind-the-scenes action with the opportunity to co-create, commentate and live the best live cricket moments on the platform.

“Sky’s creative videos and unparalleled access to the biggest moments in sport have already scored its TikTok account 1.1 million followers and over 20 million likes. By teaming up with Sky and The Hundred, our first move into cricket in Europe, we are bringing the game to new audiences, nurturing TikTok’s growing community of cricket-lovers, and creating a new destination for cricket fandom online.”

Bryan Henderson, director of cricket for Sky Sports, added: “It was a privilege last year to work with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to launch The Hundred covering all live matches in 32 days. The competition was a huge success taking cricket to new, younger audiences reaching over 16 million viewers - achieved with a refreshing, innovative approach to broadcasting.

“It’s year two of the competition and fans watching on screen will experience the tournament like never before with even better insight and innovations that will take them closer to the game. We’ll also showcase some matches live on TikTok and YouTube, hoping even more people can enjoy The Hundred this summer. Bring it on.”