The International Cricket Council has announced a path-breaking deal with the sports marketing company IMG. As per the deal, 541 matches will be globally live-streamed to enable cricket fans to witness live action of all qualifying matches to three ICC World Cups. The International governing body announced the deal through a press release on February 25.
The streaming deal with IMG will let fans watch all qualifying matches of the Men’s T20 World Cup of 2022, Men’s World Cup of 2023, Women’s T20 World Cup of 2023, and the Men’s Cricket World Cup Challenge League. As part of the deal, ICC will also be uploading minor and major clips from the matches on digital media channels.
In a press release on Thursday, ICC Chief Executive, Manu Sawhney and said, “We are delighted to be partnering with IMG to deliver more cricket to more fans than ever before. This is a significant step forward for our sport and increases the size of our platform globally, which supports our long-term ambitions for greater sustainability for all of our Members.”
As per cricket’s governing body, out of the 541 matches, 145 matches will be women’s games. Moreover, 41 qualifier events that will see 80 Associate Members’ fixtures will be produced and streamed, with more than 50 of those Members would finally have ICC’s global coverage.
The streaming deal will broadcast in Hungary, Romania and Serbia. These teams are playing in the qualifiers of T-20 World cup hosted by Finland. It would also be streamed in countries Bhutan, Botswana, Cameroon, France, Malawi, Myanmar, Philippines, and Turkey.