|
MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports, the exclusive Asian rights holder
for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) domestic and
home international matches, has entered into an agreement
with Al Jazeera Sport for the television broadcast rights
of the Friends Life Twenty20 2012.
The
deal marks a significant landmark for cricket broadcasting
in the Middle East and North Africa with Al Jazeera Sport
televising cricket for the first time ever with live coverage
of 25 matches from ECB’s domestic Twenty20 league scheduled
to take place from 12 June to 25 August.
Covering terrestrial, cable and satellite television rights,
the collaboration between Asian sports content provider and
the biggest sport broadcaster in the Pan-Arab & Mena region
will bring the exciting action from the Friends Life Twenty20
available to numerous cricket fans in the region.
ESS
SVP corporate development & cricket rights Anurag Dahiya
said, “We are very pleased with the strong interest shown
by Al Jazeera Sports in cricket. These arrangements promise
to extend the popularity and reach of ECB’s events with
the aim of raising the profile of the sport in the region,
building on from last year’s highly successful ICC Cricket
World Cup.”
ESPN
Star Sports licenses ECB broadcast rights throughout North
Africa and the Middle East along with various other parts
of Asia. In addition, ESS’ international cricket syndication
business includes global distribution of marquee properties
such as International Cricket Council events & Champions
League T20 as well as Cricket Australia’s events (in
Asia and North Africa).
ESS
had recently renewed its media rights deal with ECB for Asian
market after committing to pay a premium of $200 million for
the seven year deal that runs till 2019.
|
