Sky New Zealand, the prominent pay-TV operator in that country, has renewed its rights covering major events organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) governing body through 2028.
The deal completes the ICC’s portfolio of main broadcast partners in its key target areas, with less than a month to go until the first event of the new broadcast rights cycle - the men’s Twenty20 World Cup in the US and Caribbean.
The deal represents a key renewal for Sky NZ, for which ICC major event action has been one of the main sporting properties covered over the last few decades.
The deal, covering 16 ICC events, was done with no tender process having been publicly disclosed.
Formal confirmation was issued by the ICC - which had originally been hoping to unveil a deal before late April - first thing today (New Zealand time).
Sky Sport channels, as well as the Sky Sport Now and Sky Go streaming platforms, will stream all senior men's and women's ICC World Cup action through the length of the deal.
Geoff Allardice, the ICC's chief executive, has said: "We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Sky Sport in New Zealand. With the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 taking place next month, we are delighted to add Sky to our roster of broadcast partners ahead of the biggest ICC World Cup ever."
Sky NZ's chief content and commercial officer, Jonny Errington, added: “We know our customers value being able to watch the best of international cricket from around the world, particularly when they involve New Zealand teams in action – so it is great to be able to add another chapter to our long-standing relationship with the ICC.”
Aside from New Zealand, ICC tie-ups for the next media rights cycle - in some cases through 2028, and in others through 2031 - have now been unveiled in India, the UK, Australia, the Middle East and North Africa, the US, the Caribbean and Latin America, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka (the last country where rights were tied up, in mid-April) and Pakistan.
In terms of the next cycle of ICC major events, New Zealand will co-host the 2028 men’s T20 World Cup, alongside Australia.
The men’s NZ team lost in the semi-finals of the last major ICC tournament, the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India. They also reached that stage of the 2022 T20 World Cup, before losing to Pakistan.
Coverage of home New Zealand internationals and series, meanwhile, is provided by free-to-air broadcaster TVNZ, in a deal running through 2025-26.
This article, originally written on May 7, has been updated on May 8, 2024, to include official ICC quotes and coverage details.
