Sky Sports has secured exclusive rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the first time.
Starting from 2015 for at least three years, viewers will be offered 60 live matches from the IPL each year.
The agreement between the two parties further strengthens Sky’s cricket coverage, which already includes England home and away, along with cricket from Australia, India, South Africa, the West Indies and New Zealand.
From next year, only Sky Sports viewers be able to enjoy the world’s top four domestic Twenty20 cricket competitions: the IPL, the ECB’s NatWest T20 Blast, Australia’s Big Bash League and South Africa’s Ram Slam T20 Challenge.
Commenting on the IPL deal, Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: “It’s the cricket competition that everyone is talking about and from next year, only on Sky Sports can viewers follow the IPL live. Sky Sports’ cricket coverage has never been stronger, offering something for everyone including all the major Test playing nations and all the best players. We can’t wait. Before then, our cricket continues with the best action including ICC World Twenty20 next month and England’s summer Tests against Sri Lanka and India.”
The rights for the IPL have until now been held by ITV2.