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CMS advises England and Wales Cricket Board as it signs new five-year partnerships with Sky Sports and BBC

31 July 2017

CMS has supported England & Wales Cricket Board (“ECB") in the sale of its broadcasting and other media rights following a competitive ‘Invitation to Tender’ distributed on 12 May 2017. Sky Sports and BBC have been awarded new five-year media rights agreements for all of ECB’s domestic and international matches played at home from 2020-2024.

David Zeffman, CMS media partner and Head of Sport led the CMS team (which included associates Alasdair Lamb and Tomos Jones) in its advice to the ECB on the tender process and in negotiating the media rights agreements.

ECB’s partnerships with Sky Sports and BBC will deliver:

  • A combined income of £1.1 billion for all media rights - audio-visual, digital and audio - for use in the UK and Ireland.
  • A powerful approach for driving engagement and fuelling grass-roots cricket with premier broadcast partner Sky Sports, shaped by the impactful Sky Ride model.
  • Live international T20s, matches from women’s and New T20 competition, primetime evening highlights and digital clips delivered by BBC.

The agreements have been widely praised and secure strong strategic partnerships, wide distribution and increased financial investment to support the growth of the game, at all levels, in England and Wales.

Tom Harrison, ECB’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We would like to thank the CMS team for their invaluable support and expertise in helping ECB deliver such an important and ground-breaking set of media rights agreements for the period 2020-24.

“These agreements will help deliver the partnership, distribution and investment that will fuel the future of our game, driving interest and engagement in recreational, professional and international cricket for years to come.”

David Zeffman comments: "I'm delighted with the outcome of the tender process. The agreements with Sky and BBC align perfectly with the strategic aims of the ECB and go far in supporting the future growth of the game."