ICC announces exciting first-of-its-kind digital streaming partnership in world cricket

Making cricket more accessible to fans around the world and giving the ICC's associate member nations a shot at international coverage has long been a high priority for the International Cricket Council. Taking bold new steps towards bringing this effort to light, the organization announced a partnership with IMG that would allow them to live stream certain ICC events around the world at a scale and with a quality that hasn't been possible before. With a jam-packed schedule set for the upcoming years, this deal will provide teams with exposure at an unprecedented level.

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ICC IMG deal raises hopes for associate members

The historic ICC IMG deal paves the way for the ICC to live stream a massive 541 matches around the globe during their three upcoming events. These include all qualifying matches to three ICC World Cups: the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 and the Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. Countries like Hungary, Romania and Serbia will see their Men's T20 World Cup debuts televised while Bhutan, Botswana, Cameroon, France, Malawi, Myanmar, Philippines, and Turkey will have the benefit of having their Women's T20 debuts covered by IMG.

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While still heavily skewed towards the Men's game, the deal will ensure that 145 Women's matches are also covered. For about 50 of the ICC's associate members, this will be the first time they will receive television/online coverage at all. Talking about the deal ICC Chief Executive, Manu Sawhney said, “We are delighted to be partnering with IMG to deliver more cricket to more fans than ever before. This is a significant step forward for our sport and increases the size of our platform globally, which supports our long-term ambitions for greater sustainability for all of our Members.

He further added that, “Associate Members have long identified that broadcasting international cricket would provide a significant opportunity for growth and we are excited by the potential of this partnership". Echoing his sentiments was Adam Kelly, Co-President, Media and Events, IMG, who said that “We are delighted to have been chosen by the ICC. This key relationship will ensure both the men’s and women’s games receive much wider awareness across several different broadcast platforms”. 

It is highly unlikely that Reliance will have much to do in this deal as IMG's Indian arm, IMG-Reliance has been demerged with the Indian corporate house buying out IMG's share in the partnership. The erstwhile IMG Reliance has been responsible for the management of the IPL since its inception, but is expected to continue with its association for IPL 2021. 

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India vs England live telecast 

Meanwhile, India's bilateral series, like the ongoing India vs England series will continue to the televised and streamed on the traditional channels. The India vs England live telecast will be available on Star Sports 1/1 HD while the series will be live-streamed on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website. 

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Image Credits: ICC website