Five years after the start of a landmark deal that brought live cricket back to free-to-air television, a new deal cuts back on the amount of live cricket on the BBC.
- Cricket highlights and live coverage of The Hundred will continue on the BBC
- ECB will award broadcast rights to show a selection of live T20 matches separately. These were previously part of the BBC’s package of rights.
The biggest moments in cricket will continue to be shown on the BBC, as the broadcaster retains the rights to show comprehensive highlights until 2029.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed Friday that BBC Sport had retained the rights to provide a mix of video clips, highlights and live games for the Hundreds. BBC coverage will be complemented by its Test Match Special audio service, part of a seperate deal that runs until 2028.
Video coverage will run across BBC TV, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
Fans can look forward to highlights of the epic series against India in 2025, the fierce rivalry with Australia in 2027, and the highly anticipated women’s Ashes in 2027.
How the BBC’s live cricket coverage is reduced
However, live coverage of cricket on the BBC is set to be cut back, five years after live cricket matches returned to BBC TV after 21 years.
The BBC has retained live coverage of the men’s and women’s Hundred tournaments, covering 8 double headers each season. The broadcast rights feature both men’s and women’s Hundred games including the opening matches and the finals across TV and iPlayer.
However, the rights to show two men’s and women’s T20 matches live on free-to-air terrestrial TV will be announced separately by the ECB. The ECB previously indicated that it hadn’t received acceptable bids from any of the main free-to-air broadcasters.
As before, Sky retains the lion’s share of live cricket on UK television.
By: Marc Thornham