ESS Snags Exclusive Cricket Australia Rights

NEW DELHI: ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) has scored a five-year contract for the exclusive rights to broadcast Cricket Australia’s (CA) international and premium domestic matches across Asia on multiple platforms.

Under the agreement, ESPN STAR Sports will broadcast more than 191 days of live international cricket action from Australia, including 27 test matches, 44 one day internationals and 12 Twenty20 games. For the first time, Cricket Australia will give ESPN STAR Sports rights to showcase two India series. In addition, ESS also plans to broadcast Cricket Australia’s domestic cricket over 280 days.

James Sutherland, the CEO of Cricket Australia, said, “We are delighted that a telecaster of ESPN STAR Sports’ standing and class will be putting Australian cricket in front of so many cricket fans. ESPN STAR Sports has been a wonderful and innovative partner for a long while and to be able to extend this critical partnership is great news for us all as well as for the cricket loving public.”

Manu Sawhney, the managing director of ESPN STAR Sports, added: “We are very pleased to announce this partnership with Cricket Australia with whom we share a very strong relationship. Australian Cricket has always been exciting and is played with utmost competitiveness in a super charged atmosphere, which makes for every fan’s delight. It is therefore not surprising that it is called the ultimate test for any cricket player.”