Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has appointed Dubai-based Channel 2 Group as official audio rights partner for all international events for the next eight years. This landmark partnership between ICC and Channel 2 Group is expected to expand the reach of ICC events to different parts of the world.
Announcing the deal, Campell Jamieson, ICC General Manager – Commercial, said: “This newest partnership will ensure expanded reach of ICC events, especially in territories where radio broadcasts are still popular. Channel 2 Group has been involved in cricket for a long time, during which it has provided excellent live coverage.
“The fact that this is an eight-year partnership also means there will be a greater degree of consistency across all our major events, which is in keeping with the ICC commercial philosophy of generating product quality and commercial value over a longer time period.”
Speaking to Gulf News, Ajay Sethi, Chairman of Channel 2 Group Corporation, said: “Our group has come a long way since 2007 ICC World Twenty20 Cup in South Africa, where we had only the Cricket Radio rights from IMG, who were the global rights holders for eight years from 2007 to 2015. It was my vision to reach out to more fans and I am delighted that our group has got the rights from 2016 to 2023.”
The ICC had closely watched the efforts of Channel 2 Group and under the terms of the agreement, this Group will have global FM and AM rights, including exclusive distribution and sub-licensing rights for all the 17 ICC events in the 2016-2023 period, starting with this month’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh through to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
Broadcast majors like All India Radio, BBC, ABC and Radio Pakistan will now have to take sub license from Channel 2 Group. “ICC has watched our efforts through Cricket Radio that did a lot of service to promote cricket even in non-playing countries. We have been dedicated to the passionate fans by having commentators like Sunil Gavaskar, Clive Lloyd and Kapil Dev. We are now planning to expand our commentators’ panel.”
Shetty also revealed he will be creating a new app. “This is the era of digital revolution and we will lift our coverage to a new level. We will reach quickly to the fans and live sports coverage is a compelling content. Our biggest breakthrough is getting the India rights as they have a huge market. We have plans to entertain fans through a mix of Bollywood and cricket,” said Sethi.
The 17 ICC events to be staged over the eight-year period: ICC World Twenty20 2016, 2020, ICC Champions Trophy 2017, 2021, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and 2023, ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 and 2021, standalone ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2018 and 2022, ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 and 2020, ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2019 and ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022.
