UK pay-broadcaster BSkyB announced it has acquired the exclusive UK broadcast right for the England cricket team’s Ashes tour of Australia in the winter of 2010-11.
BSkyB acquired the rights in a deal with Cricket Australia, which included the rights to all Australian international cricket from 2009 until September 2012. The rights include:
* The Ashes tests
* All England one-day internationals and Twenty20 matches played during the Ashes Tour in 2010-11
* All Australia home fixtures, including the series’ against Pakistan and West Indies (2009-2010), Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (2010-2011), and New Zealand and India (2011-12)
The rights include mobile and internet rights, and BSkyB will be providing live coverage for subscribers to Sky Mobile TV, available on 3G handsets on the Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile mobile networks, and through the Skyplayer service accessible at skysports.com.
The latest deal means that BSkyB will show in the UK the next three Ashes series’, beginning with this summer’s five test matches.
