Bt Sport Secures Caribbean T20 Rights

BT Sport has secured the UK and Irish broadcast rights to the Caribbean Premier League T20 cricket tournament for the next two seasons, which will see former England international Kevin Pietersen team up with the likes of Chris Gayle throughout the summer.

BT broadcast the inaugural competition last year, just after the channel launched, with the second edition of the six-team competition set to hit-off on 11th July. The CPL will continue through until 16th August with all 30 matches covered live.

Playing a role in BT Sport’s coverage will be the Ashes-winning former England off-spinner Graeme Swann, who will form part of the commentary team on BT Sport.

Additionally, each match will be repeated as a one-hour highlights show throughout the tournament. 

The tournament features six teams from across eight Caribbean countries playing in Eight venues including Guyana, Barbados, Grenada, Antigua, Trinidad, Jamaica, St Lucia and St Kitts. Each team plays each other in a league format, with the top four teams progressing to a play off phase.

Damien O’Donohoe, the CPL’s chief executive, said: ‘We are delighted to partner with BT Sport, who have quickly established themselves as a major player in sports media in the UK.’

‘The Caribbean Premier League was a huge success in its first year and we are now attracting the world’s best players such as Kevin Pietersen. We have big ambitions for the tournament going forward.’

Grant Best, senior executive channel producer, BT Sport, added: ‘We are delighted to continue enhancing and expanding our multi-sport line up by bringing fans not only one of the most exciting cricket tournaments globally, but also the eagerly-awaited return to the crease of Kevin Pietersen.’

The deal comes as BT’s sports pay-TV rival, Sky Sports, prepares to take over the rights to the Indian Premier League next year.