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TEN bowls over cricket deal

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Network TEN has signed an exclusive five year deal with the Indian Premier League which will see it broadcast 59 matches over 44 days.

Cricketers including Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee will all compete against Indians, Pakistanis, New Zealanders, South Africans and West Indians.

In an unusual acquisition for the network, the games between 18 April – 1 June 08 will have to compete with the on-air time of other TEN shows including Big Brother.

At least one match will be played on each day of the tournament, with two matches scheduled back-to-back on certain weekdays and every Saturday and Sunday.

Press Release:

Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath return to international cricket. Current Aussie stars Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee and more!

The Aussies will play with, as well as against, star Indians, Pakistanis, New Zealanders, South Africans and West Indians. And it’s all exclusive to Network Ten.

TEN has signed an exclusive five-year deal to broadcast the Indian Premier League (IPL), the world’s newest and most exciting cricket competition involving the world’s best players.

The IPL, which has grabbed the attention of media across the globe, consists of eight teams competing in action-packed Twenty20 matches.

Australian legends Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath and current stars Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke and Brett Lee have all signed up.

The tournament will also feature the world’s best International players, including India’s Sachin Tendulkar, South Africa’s Jacques Kallis, Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidaran, Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar, West Indian Chris Gayle, New Zealander Stephen Fleming, and many other stars.

TEN will exclusively broadcast all 59 matches over 44 days from 18 April – 1 June 08. Start times will vary with numerous matches starting at 9.30pm, adding to TEN’s primetime schedule.

The deal also includes exclusive replay rights and selected matches will be repeated on TEN-HD.

“We are delighted with the agreement we have reached with TEN to broadcast the IPL.” said Seamus O’Brien, President and CEO of World Sport Group, the Singapore-based sports marketing company that owns the global media rights to the IPL.

“A long-term commitment from a commercial free-to-air broadcaster in Australia highlights the value and excitement surrounding the launch of this new sporting property.”

TEN’s general manager – sport, David White, said: “Securing the exclusive five-year Australian broadcast rights to the IPL is another major coup for TEN. It builds on our impressive and expanding sport portfolio, which includes AFL, Formula 1, MotoGP, NASCAR, golf, NFL and the recently announced 2010 Commonwealth Games.

“The IPL will deliver over 180-hours of premium sporting content, much of which will be broadcast in and around primetime.

“As always, TEN has carefully assessed this acquisition and we’re very confident it will deliver significant value to the network from audience, revenue and margin perspectives.

“This is the way cricket should be – great players, high intensity, big hitting, simply put – the best of the best.”

On 28 February, the IPL will hold its player auction in which each of the eight team owners will bid for the players they wish to represent their team. This will ensure a mix of the world’s best players across each team, a format that has never been seen before. TEN will also broadcast the player auction.

At least one match will be played on each day of the tournament, with two matches scheduled back-to-back on certain weekdays and every Saturday and Sunday.

TEN’s full IPL broadcast schedule will released soon.

9 Responses

  1. TEN? F1? Moto GP? and now Cricket…expect 5 hours delayed telecast! Can’t wait to watch IPL twenty20 at 4am on TEN! in the morning…It think TEN delayed most of their telecast so their BOSS can watch it when they wakeup early in the morning….you know OLD people they wakeup around 1am in the morning to start their day…LOL…

  2. David, do you know if Nine put in bid for this, or if Ten was the only network to put there hand up. I remember when Seven covered the Ashes in England a few years back. It was nowhere near the quality of Nine’s coverage. I suspect that this will be the same.

  3. It’s a good deal, but I am not sure that Channel Ten and cricket were ever meant to go together….the beach cricket series could have been done a bit better, for example.

  4. I’m lokking forward to this, but it just doesn’t seem right that the cricket isn’t on Nine. But never mind, it might then cut out some of the crap on Ten like Big Brother.

  5. An interesting move, but with some games starting at 9:30pm, it’s hardly going to “take over the schedule”.

    And of course the games will be in HD. That’s what TEN’s been pushing for the last few months! It won’t be exclusively on it though cos’ it’s not like they paid all that money to not be able to sell it.

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