ESPN Secures ICC Cricket Rights in the Caribbean and Latin America
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the extension of its long-standing partnership with ESPN. The deal will bring ICC global events to fans across 51 territories in the Caribbean and Latin America. This comes ahead of an exciting year in the region with the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
The broadcast and digital deal spans the next eight years, covering all matches of the 12 men’s senior events and four U19 men’s events up until the end of 2031. The first senior men’s event under this agreement is the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, scheduled to take place in the West Indies and the USA from 1 to 29 June. The partnership will also include all matches of the four women’s senior events and two U19 women’s events up until the end of 2027.
This agreement signifies a new chapter in the ICC’s relationship with ESPN, which began in 2012. It represents the first direct deal between the two organizations. Fans across 33 territories will be able to watch event coverage via ESPN Caribbean and ESPN2 Caribbean on television and on the digital streaming platform ESPN Play Caribbean. In another 18 countries across Latin America, ICC cricket will be available through ESPN on the Star+ streaming platform.
Statements from ICC and ESPN Executives
ICC Chief Executive, Geoff Allardice, expressed his excitement about the partnership extension: “We are thrilled to be extending our partnership with ESPN and taking ICC events across 51 territories in the Caribbean and Latin America. We have a very exciting year coming up with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 hosted in the West Indies and the USA and have a huge opportunity to entertain and inspire a new generation of fans in the region.”
Michael Walters, VP of Programming & Acquisitions at ESPN, echoed this sentiment: “The extension of this agreement reinforces ESPN’s commitment to providing fans in the Caribbean and Latin America with high quality and locally relevant programming. There is no better way to demonstrate that commitment than with the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup hosted by the West Indies and USA this summer. Our audiences in the region will be able to continue enjoying the International Cricket Council events for 8 more years extending our relationship that dates back to 2012.”