ESPN+ & New Zealand Cricket Reach Six-Year Extension

ESPN+ has secured a new six-year agreement with New Zealand Cricket for exclusive U.S. rights to all  International Cricket Council (ICC) men’s and women’s matches played in New Zealand, across all three formats.

The deal renews an existing six-year agreement and adds up to 50 matches per season from Super Smash, New Zealand’s domestic T20 league. New Zealand began hosting West Indies last week Friday in the first tour part of the new deal. Other tours scheduled for New Zealand during the current season include Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia. Subsequent seasons will be highlighted by tours including India, West Indies, Australia and England. The six-year deal covers more than 100 scheduled ICC matches, including 23 Tests, 33 ODI and 53 T20.

Russell Wolff, executive VP and general manager at ESPN+, said: “Cricket fans are among the most passionate in the world, and the Black Caps and White Ferns are among the world’s great teams. We’re thrilled to build on our great relationship with New Zealand Cricket and bring even more top-level global cricket to the growing and dedicated audience on ESPN+.”

David White, NZC chief executive, added: “The partnership with ESPN will help us extend our teams’ global reach and build closer relationships around the world—which is one of our key objectives. The U.S.A. has always been an important market for us and we’re looking forward to continuing to bring top-class cricket to ESPN viewers.”