The upcoming professional cricket league in the United States (US), the Major League Cricket (MLC) has teamed up with the Indian media company, Viacom18.
In this arrangment, the entertainment network will provide the digital and television coverage of MLC on JioCinema and Sports18, respectively. The highly anticipated inaugural edition of MLC will kick off on Thursday, July 13 with Texas Super Kings squaring off with Los Angeles Knight Riders at the Grand Prairie Stadium near Dallas, TX.
Apart from the above-mentioned teams, the first-ever season will also witness MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas, and Washington Freedom fighting it out for the top prize. The maiden edition will follow a round-robin format with top four teams participating in the knockout stage, which will consist of two semi-finals and a final on July 30.
Viacom18 Sports Head of Strategy, Partnerships & Acquisitions, Hursh Shrivastava, said, “JioCinema continues to change the landscape of sports consumption, and with Major League Cricket, fans will watch their favourite T20 cricketers and cheer for teams affiliated to their favourite franchisees. Indian viewers love T20 cricket, and we expect them to enjoy the action from the inaugural edition of the league across JioCinema and Sports18.”
Vijay Srinivasan, Co-Founder, Major League Cricket, said, “We are delighted to partner with Viacom18 and ensure that the world class T20 action Major League Cricket will feature is widely available in India, streamed on JioCinema and broadcast on Sports18. Our six teams feature T20 superstars fans in India love to watch, and there’s no better partner to showcase world class sports broadcasts in the world’s largest cricket market than Viacom18’s channels.”
Prior to this development, MLC also partnered with SPORTENG, Betbricks7, and Royal.