ESPN acquires ICC events and CL T20 broadcast rights for Caribbean

MUMBAI: ESPN International has entered into a cricket distribution agreement with ESPN Star Sports (ESS) for International Cricket Council (ICC) events and the Champions League Twenty20 for the Caribbean market, ESPN Caribbean and Maritime Media vice president Bernard Stewart announced.

The development comes in the wake of ESPN exiting the Asian market after selling its stake to News Corp in the Asian sports broadcasting joint venture ESPN Star Sports. Post the clearance of the stake sale, ESPN will be present in Asia through its digital media products.

The ICC agreement is a four-year deal from 2012 to 2015 and covers several ICC events, including the global showpiece of the cricket calendar, the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The distribution agreement covers terrestrial, cable, satellite and new media platform rights. ICC programming will be presented on two ESPN Caribbean television networks--ESPN Caribbean and ESPN 2 Caribbean-- and on ESPNPlay.com, the region?s recently launched broadband network for live sports programming.

The Champions League Twenty20 agreement extends ESPN?s current three-year deal by three more years covering 2013-2015. The agreement covers all of ESPN Caribbean?s media platforms including the two networks, ESPN Caribbean and ESPN 2 Caribbean, and ESPNPlay.com.

?We are delighted to again showcase talented cricketers from the West Indies who will play in the ICC World Twenty20 and the Champions League Twenty20 later this year, as well as the crown jewel of cricket ? the ICC Cricket World Cup ? in 2015,? Stewart said. ?Cricket is essential to our programming in the West Indies and has a dynamic following there. This long-term agreement reinforces our commitment to providing world-class cricket to Caribbean fans.?

ESPN Caribbean?s upcoming cricket coverage includes the ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup in Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville, Australia from 10-25 August; the ICC World Twenty 20 in Sri Lanka from 18 September-7 October; and the Champions League Twenty20 in October.

The Champions League Twenty20 brings the best club teams from top cricket playing nations, including the West Indies, Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa, together in one of the major cricket competitions worldwide. Organisers have announced that Pakistan and other nations will be added this year.

The winner of the Caribbean Twenty20 ? to which ESPN Caribbean holds the rights through 2013 ? will represent the West Indies in the CLT20. Trinidad and Tobago, the 2011 representative, will return this year.

?We have succeeded in securing some very significant long-term broadcast partnerships for the ICC events and we are very pleased to be working with ESPN to showcase an exciting calendar of ICC cricket events in this cricket market,? said ESS SVP corporate development & cricket rights Anurag Dahiya.