US sports giant wins broadcast rights to Australia's Caribbean cricket tour
Australia's first Test tour of the Caribbean for a decade is set to be broadcast by ESPN and therefore available on Foxtel, after the US sports giant outbid Seven for rights to the three Tests and five Twenty20 matches.
It's the first time that an Australian cricket tour overseas will be seen on ESPN in this country, meaning it is also expected to be available on Disney Plus, as well as Foxtel, Kayo and Fetch.
Two industry sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal has not yet been formally signed off, told this masthead that ESPN was the preferred bidder for West Indies Cricket after surmounting Seven's offer, which followed its purchase of the recent Sri Lanka series in January and February.
ESPN's Caribbean arm holds the domestic rights to the tour. Australia are scheduled to play three Tests in Barbados, Grenada and Jamaica in June and July. The last of these is slated to be a pink-ball match under lights at Sabina Park, meaning a more friendly time slot for Australian viewers. ESPN declined to comment. West Indies Cricket was contacted for comment.
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Foxtel has customarily picked up the rights to Caribbean tours, but the subscription service is currently working through its recent sale to DAZN.
Foxtel recently raised fees for its Kayo streaming service, after making a round of job cuts in April.
Having spent big on the rights to cricket in Australia since 2018, Foxtel has also grown gradually less inclined to broadcast overseas tours outside select series in England, India and a couple of other countries.
Last year, Foxtel gave up rights to cricket World Cups, which it had previously shared with Nine (owner of this masthead), with the global events instead bought by Amazon Prime, including this month's world Test championship final at Lord's.
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