Star Sports agree deal with CA for broadcasting rights of The Border Gavaskar Trophy and The Ashes

After losing the bidding battle for the media rights of the lucrative Indian Premier League, things do not seem to be getting any better for media giants Sony Sports as Star Sports network have signed a huge deal with Cricket Australia to broadcast The Ashes as well as The Border Gavaskar trophy. 

It hasn’t been long since the media rights for the broadcasting of the IPL were put up for auction which were bagged by the Star Sports. However, It was briefly speculated that Sony Sports had bagged the media rights for the same and the official announcement by BCCI quashed such false rumours and confirmed that Star Sports had successfully managed to obtain the media rights for the IPL. 

Sony Sports unable to obtain broadcasting rights of one big event after another 

It is now being reported that Cricket Australia have signed a massive deal with the Star Sports which gives them the media rights to the broadcast the T20 World Cup (which will be held in Australia in October), India’s international matches, The Big Bash league, The Border Gavaskar Trophy and The Ashes series for the next four years.

As per Cricbuzz, the deal has a provision of extension for four more years and has been signed by both the parties. The agreement, for both TV and digital rights, begins from the next season. Cricket Australia though remain tight-lipped on the agreement. A CA spokesman refused to comment and said, “Nothing we can say on the record on that at the moment. I’ll let you know if that changes.”

Growing competition continuously outdoing Sony Sports

Sony lost out to Star Sports and Viacom18 for the TV and the digital rights of the IPL respectively. Losing the broadcasting rights leaves them with rights for only England among the top teams. Sony are reported to be in the race for the ICC media rights, however they will once again be facing off against Star Sports, Viacom, alongside international participants like Amazon and Facebook.

Sony Sports have also suffered when it comes to Football, losing out on the FIFA World Cup rights for the tournament in Qatar. Viacom18 will broadcast the extravaganza in India and also hold digital rights for the same. Viacom have also taken up La Liga and Serie A rights. Sony Sports have the UEFA rights to their name.

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