dazn And ITV To Share IPL Rights
DAZN and ITV have secured the UK broadcast rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL), according to the Daily Mail.
The two broadcasters have reportedly combined to take the IPL from current rights holders Sky Sports on a five-year deal, with 16 regular season matches to be shown exclusively on ITV.
The new deal means this will be the IPL’s first appearance on UK free-to-air television since its run on ITV between 2010 and 2014.
The remaining 58 games of the men’s T20 franchise cricket league, including the play-offs and final, will air on sports streaming platform DAZN.
All 74 matches in the IPL season will be broadcast live, with the free-to-air coverage likely to appear on ITV4.
DAZN currently holds the IPL broadcast rights in South Africa and Australia. The new agreement will be its first move in the UK cricket broadcasting market with selected games sub-licenced to ITV.
The IPL has been broadcast by Sky Sports for the last three years, but the British pay-television broadcaster was unwilling to match DAZN and ITV’s offer this time around. Sky is also thought to be focusing on the English domestic season and ICC global events.
The IPL’s domestic TV deal in India with Star Sports is worth £5bn, making it the second most lucrative competition in the world across all sports on a per-match basis.
The 2023 IPL season starts with GT vs CSK on 31st March.
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