ECB announces new five-year broadcasting deal with Sky Sports and BBC

(Reuters) – The BBC and Sky Sports have agreed a five-year deal to broadcast England’s international and first-class matches played at home between 2020-2024, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said yesterday.

The new media rights deal, worth 1.1 billion pounds, will mark the return of live televised English international and domestic cricket to the BBC for the first time in 21 years, while Sky takes its partnership with English cricket into its third decade.

“This is a great result for cricket,” ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said in a statement. “ECB has secured the reach, revenue and relevance the game deserves, to help it to grow.

“Together, these new deals will deliver the partnership, distribution and investment that will fuel the future of our game, driving recreational, professional and international cricket for years to come.”

Sky will broadcast live TV coverage of England’s home tests, one-day internationals (ODI), Twenty20 (T20) internationals, women’s matches and the County Championship.

The BBC retains radio rights and digital clips for English cricket along with live TV coverage of men’s and women’s T20 internationals and the ECB’s new men’s domestic T20 tournament.

The BBC will also show highlights of England men’s home test matches, ODIs and T20s.