Sky Sports renews ECB deal through to 2028

Sky Sports has announced a four-year extension of its deal with The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to broadcast live cricket through to the end of 2028.

Sky said that the new deal will bring an additional 90 hours of live cricket to TV screens each year, including more women’s cricket than ever before. The deal also includes continued coverage of The Hundred through to 2028, along with increased prominence for the Vitality Blast, including more live games.

Sky said that its enhanced coverage of cricket since it agreed the current deal in 2020 has been reflected in increased viewership, with 134 million more hours of ECB cricket watched in 2021 compared to 2017.

Announcing the extension, Clare Connor, ECB interim CEO, said: “Sky have been fantastic partners for cricket for over 30 years. Their broadcast coverage is rightly lauded as the best in the world, but more significantly than that we have a shared commitment to growing the sport and investing in more opportunities not only for people to watch and follow cricket in all its forms, but also to pick up a bat and ball.

Stephen van Rooyen, EVP and CEO UK and Europe added: “This is an exciting time for English cricket and we’re thrilled to be furthering our long and successful partnership with the ECB. Together we will continue to help grow the game while boosting participation in the sport by children from all backgrounds through initiatives like our Dynamos Cricket Intros.”