ITV secures 4 year IPL deal

March 29, 2011   ·   4 Comments

ITV have agreed a new four-year deal with Nimbus Communications for the UK broadcast rights of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament.

Under the terms of the new agreement, live coverage of the tournament will be broadcast free-to-air on ITV4 and simulcast live on ITV.com.  The 4th season of the IPL is to be held between April 8th to May 28th.

Announcing the new deal, Niall Sloane, ITV’s Controller of Sport said : “ITV4 has a fast growing reputation for broadcasting sport and, after a terrific audience response to our coverage of last year”s competition and more recently the winter Ashes series, I”m delighted that we have secured a new four-year deal for free-to-air coverage of the Indian Premier League.”

Yannick Colaco of Nimbs Communications said : “We are delighted to partner with one of UK”s biggest commercial broadcaster, ITV, to telecast the IPL in UK. We look forward to a fruitful partnership and an exciting IPL season 4.”

Cricket made its debut on ITV4 in 2010 with live coverage of the third season of IPL and was followed later in the year by highlights of England’s 2010-11 Ashes, Twenty20 and One Day International series in Australia.

Playing Twenty20 cricket, ten teams compete in the IPL with the 2011 season played across 12 venues in India.  The competition attracts some of the world’s greatest players and in 2011 will include: Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, Daniel Vettori, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith; with English players including Paul Collingwood, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan and Owais Shah.

The IPL has become one of the biggest sporting spectacles in the world, broadcasting to audiences of 145 million last year in India itself and capturing large global audiences across all continents including Australia, U.S.A and across the Middle East.

Tags: IPL, ITV Sport, ITV4, Niall Sloane