BT Sport beats Sky to Ashes rights deal

The 2017/18 Ashes series will be shown exclusively live on BT Sport, after winning a five-year rights deal for Australia home internationals that includes England’s defence of the urn.

They’ve secured rights to Australia home matches for next five years in a contract believed to be costing the company around £16m a year.

Sky, having to be more pragmatic with their rights-buying since investing so much in the Premier League, will point to a lot of the Ashes action in Australia taking place overnight. BT Sport will show hundreds of live matches throughout the tournament using the very latest technology.

Sky Sports had extensive coverage of England’s Ashes triumph on UK shores this summer, but its TV rival has swooped in for the next campaign.

Cricket Australia Executive General Manager of Media, Communications & Marketing Ben Amarfio said the agreement signalled a new era in Australian cricket broadcasting.

With the Ashes deal BT Sport are now looking to make an impact in cricket as well as football.

They recently won the rights to the Champions League and FA Cup from Sky and ITV and have long harboured an interest in cricket.

“We would like to thank Sky Sports for its commitment to Australian cricket over several decades where it produced an informative, innovative and entertaining broadcast of the game that was truly world-class”.

“We will show live domestic games featuring the best players in the world during the Big Bash League and all Australian home matches for the next five years”.