Cricket Australia has increased their push into the North American market by signing broadcast deals in the United States and Canada, including a one-year deal with NBC Sports Network to show 10 Big Bash League matches.
The Comcast-owned NBCSN will broadcast a weekly BBL match of the round live and on replay, while all BBL06 finals will be aired on a one-day delay. The 10 matches will also be simultaneously available on NBCSports.com and on the NBC Sports app.
With NBCSN part of most basic cable packages in the US, it means the BBL has the potential reach of over 80 million US households.
Staying in the United States, Cricket Australia has renewed all rights, including men’s and women’s international Test matches, one-day internationals, T20 matches and the domestic BBL Women’s Big Bash League competitions, with cricket channel Willow for five years.
In Canada, Cricket Australia has inked a deal with new partner Asian Television Network (ATN) for the next five years, as exclusive rights holder of all men’s and women’s international matches, plus the BBL and WBBL.
Cricket Australia’s general manager of media, communications and marketing, Ben Amarfio, told The Australian: “We’ve got our sights set on the US, where there is huge expat audience and growing interest in playing the game. We’re tapping into the idea there’s more than 10 million expats in the US from India, Pakistan and the subcontinent, England, Australia and elsewhere.
“That’s a nice core to start with and we think the BBL has enough appeal to sway Americans as well because it’s such an exciting game.”
Source: The Australian
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