ESPN retains ICC rights in the Caribbean

27 June 2012 | Posted in Broadcast, Cricket, Caribbean | By Eoin Connolly

ESPN International has reached a deal with International Cricket Council (ICC) broadcast partner ESPN Star Sports (ECC) to distribute top international cricket events, including the ICC Cricket World Cup, across the Caribbean until 2015.

The four-year agreement also includes the terrestrial, cable, satellite and new media rights to a range of other ICC tournaments, including the ICC World Twenty20 competitions this year and in 2014, the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and the 2013 ICC Women's World Cup. ICC events will be covered on ESPN Caribbean and ESPN2 Caribbean, and online via ESPNPlay.com.

In addition, ESPN International has extended its deal with ESS for the Champions League Twenty20 competition, which features the world's top domestic sides, for another three years. The renewal will cover the period from 2013 to 2015.

Bernard Stewart, the vice president of ESPN Caribbean and Maritime Media, said: "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. 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."

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ESPN Star Sports senior vice president for corporate development and cricket rights Anurag Dahiya added: "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. This exciting partnership underscores our commitment to serving cricket fans in the Caribbean." 

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