The European Cricket League has found an agreement with Australia based OTT Channel Sports Flick for the overseas broadcast rights. The deal will run until the end of 2022 and includes the streaming of over 1,000 matches per year. The Spring Media agency brokered the deal between two parties.
In 2019, a series of one-year broadcast deals were agreed for the 2019 ECL as distribution was secured with 43 broadcasters across 120 territories. ECL20 was postponed due to the pandemic. Despite the pandemic, European Cricket has experienced an unbelievable path of growth due to the launch of the European Cricket Series (ECS) in June.
FanCode acquired the rights of ECL in the Indian Subcontinent. The agreement with Sports Flick will cover the remaining countries. By integrating live cricket on an almost daily basis, Sports Flick will provide the largest cricket portfolio in the world by volume and attract a growing number of cricket fans. The new and dedicated cricket service of Sports Flick went ahead with the live transmission of the ECS Rome from November 2.
ECL AG CEO Roger Feiner said, “We are committed to supporting the growth of European Cricket in close cooperation with our TV partners. We can boast a fantastic new product for our clients, which spoils customers with quality sports action and high-class production levels. European Cricket dishes up a fresh and entertaining product, like never experienced before, with more than 1,000 matches per year, discovering new cricketing talents all over Europe. A highlight will be the European Cricket League (ECL21) tournament – the Champions League of European cricket – live and exclusive on Sports Flick.”
Dylan Azzopardi, Chief executive and founder of Sports Flick, said, “Having closely followed multiple European Cricket Series events during extreme circumstances and witnessed the interest generated through tough times this year, it definitely feels like the right time. To live broadcast over 700 matches by the end of 2020 is an incredible milestone. Sports Flick allows cricket lovers all over the world the chance to follow European cricket throughout the entire year. Summer is not far away here in Australia, and now, the summer of cricket will be shown on Sports Flick.”
A 50-per-cent subscription discount has been offered by Sports Flick for the first month, equating to a cost of $4.99, €3.99, £4.49, or A$7.45. Sports Flick also owns rights to the Arabian Gulf Football League, Nicaragua’s Liga Primera, and baseball content including the matches of the Sydney Blue Sox.