ECB announces new six-year media rights deal with BeIN MEDIA GROUP for Middle East and North Africa

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced a new six-year broadcast rights agreement with beIN MEDIA GROUP for international and domestic cricket coverage in the Middle East and North Africa.

The deal will give beIN Media Group rights to screen coverage from all ECB’s home international men’s and women’s series as well as its domestic competitions from next summer through to the end of the 2024 season.

It will encompass next summer’s tours by India and Pakistan as well as the next home Ashes series against Australia in 2019 plus action from the T20 Blast, Royal London One-Day Cup, the Specsavers County Championship and the ECB’s new eight-team T20 competition which launches in 2020.

As part of the agreement, beIN MEDIA GROUP has announced plans to introduce a dedicated beIN SPORTS cricket channel in the MENA region in 2018. The channel will screen the broadcaster’s portfolio of premium international and domestic cricket, including ECB and Cricket Australia content, as well as original programming, documentaries and magazine shows.

All ECB games will be available in HD via subscription channels and online. Cricket fans in MENA can also look forward to watching selected games in Ultra HD over the coming years with the recent launch of beIN MEDIA GROUP’s 4K channel.

beIN MEDIA GROUP will broadcast cricket in more than 24 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt and Morocco.

Today’s deal expands beIN MEDIA GROUP’s premium cricket offering and follows a number of rights renewals over the past six months, including the exclusive rights to broadcast the UEFA Champions League and Europa League in the MENA region for a further three years.

ECB Chief Executive Officer Tom Harrison, CEO of the England and Wales Cricket Board, said: “We’re very pleased to welcome beINMEDIA Group to our broader family of broadcast partners and excited by their plans to create their own dedicated cricket channel for the first time. Our international and domestic teams are attracting an ever-expanding global audience and this new partnership will give even more cricket fans worldwide an opportunity to follow all the action and excitement from our game.

“With the 2019 home men’s and women’s Ashes series and India’s next tour to England among the highlights viewers can look forward to in the next two years – this is a comprehensive and compelling package of rights which will help give cricket excellent exposure in the MENA region.”

Commenting on the announcement, Yousef Al-Obaidly, Deputy CEO, beIN MEDIA GROUP, said: “Today’s announcement strengthens beIN MEDIA GROUP’s sports portfolio, bringing more of the world’s best cricket to fans across the Middle East and North Africa.

“We are thrilled to partner with the ECB at such an exciting time for English cricket, building on a similar agreement signed this month with Cricket Australia. Together, these acquisitions and the upcoming launch of our dedicated cricket channel will deliver high quality, in-depth cricket coverage to the rapidly growing audience in the MENA region.

“These agreements are the latest in our ambitious plans to deliver more sports coverage across the region and further enhance our position as the undisputed first choice sports and entertainment broadcaster.”

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