Getty Images
The SA20 South African Twenty20 cricket franchise competition has signed a five-year broadcast deal with UK pay-TV network Sky Sports ahead of the start of its inaugural season on 10th January.
Sky will broadcast all 33 matches from the new competition founded as a joint venture by Cricket South Africa (CSA) alongside SuperSport and Sundar Raman. The national cricket body has a majority 50 per cent holding in SA20, while the pay-TV network has a 30 per cent share and the former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief operating officer owns the remaining 20 per cent stake.
The six franchises – the Durban Super Giants, Joburg Super Kings, MI Cape Town, Paarl Royals, Pretoria Capitals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape – are all privately owned, with several existing IPL investors onboard. SA20 has signed up a number of international cricket stars, including England’s Jos Buttler and Sam Curran.
The deal with Sky sews up a long-term broadcast deal in another key cricket market for SA20, following the crucial ten-year exclusive partnership with Viacom18 for the Indian subcontinent.
“We are thrilled to add the SA20 to our portfolio of cricket rights,” said Bryan Henderson, director of cricket at Sky Sports.
“We believe it will be a terrific competition with some of the best English players involved.”
Enjoying SportsPro content? Create your account and get enhanced access to all the latest stories.
Have an account? Log in
A link has been emailed to you – check your inbox.
Already registered?
Don’t have an account?