MUMBAI: Sky Sports has signed a new multi-year deal to broadcast the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UK and Ireland. The deal allows Sky to retain the IPL broadcast rights for the territory.
In 2014, Sky had signed a three-year deal to broadcast the IPL for the first time in the UK and Ireland.
Under the deal, Sky Sports will broadcast 60 IPL matches live each year in the UK and Ireland, starting with the 2018 edition. The 11th season of the IPL is slated to go on air from 7 April.
The Sky-Star deal also includes digital rights. This means that Star’s video-on-demand (VoD) service Hotstar will not be streaming the T20 tournament in the UK.
Star was planning to use the IPL to strengthen Hotstar’s presence in global markets like the US and the UK.
Last year, Star India had acquired all IPL media rights for Rs 16,347.5 crore ($2.55 million) for a five-year (2018-2022) cycle.
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