BT Secures Rights to Show Australian Cricket in UK

In a significant move, BT has won the rights to screen Australian cricket in the UK in a reported £80 million five-year deal. This follows a fierce battle with broadcaster Sky, which has already seen BT muscle in on Sky's Premier League football dominance and acquire Champions League rights. The deal includes all Australian Test matches, One Day Internationals, and T20 Internationals played in Australia, as well as the women's Ashes and women's T20 Big Bash League. BT will broadcast England's defence of the Ashes in 2017/18 and show all Australian home cricket internationals live in the UK from 2016 to 2021.

Key Takeaways:

• BT has secured the rights to screen Australian cricket in the UK for £80 million over five years, effective from 2016 to 2021.
• The deal includes all Australian Test matches, One Day Internationals, and T20 Internationals played in Australia, as well as the women's Ashes and women's T20 Big Bash League.
• BT will broadcast England's defence of the Ashes in 2017/18 and show all Australian home cricket internationals live in the UK.
• Sky Sports customers will face a premium of about £20 a month to add on BT services, making the satellite broadcaster vulnerable to calls to cut its prices.
• BT already screens 38 Premier League games a season and has just started exclusively showing Champions League and Europa League games.
• BT has signed a £960 million three-year deal to show 42 games a season from 2016/17.

Statistics:

• £80 million: The reported value of the five-year deal between BT and Cricket Australia.
• 2016-2021: The period during which BT will broadcast Australian cricket in the UK.
• 38: The number of Premier League games BT screens a season.
• £897 million: The value of BT's three-year deal to show Champions League and Europa League games.
• £960 million: The value of BT's three-year deal to show 42 Premier League games a season from 2016/17.

Sources:

• "Agency Staff BT snatches rights to show Australian cricket" - an article by The Telegraph (original publication date not specified)
• "BT Sport to show Ashes in Australia, BT TV and BT Sport blog" - a blog post by BT (original publication date not specified)
• Delia Bushell, managing director of BT TV and BT Sport, quoted in The Telegraph.
• Ben Amarfio, Cricket Australia executive general manager of media, communications and marketing, quoted in The Telegraph.
• Ewan Taylor Gibson, broadband and TV expert at uSwitch, quoted in The Telegraph.