Willow TV, the cricket channel in the US, has today (March 17) announced a four-year broadcast rights deal with the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Through the deal, the broadcaster will be the home of ICC events in the US and Canada from 2024 until the end of 2027.
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Willow will hold broadcast and digital rights for all ICC men’s and women’s major events.
The new deal continues a partnership between the ICC and Willow TV that has been in place since 2016. However, this marks the first direct live TV contractual relationship between the two organizations.
The agreement was struck with Times Internet Limited, the digital arm of publishing group Times of India, which acquired Willow in 2016.
The four-year contract will cover a total of 14 international events across men’s, women’s, and U19s Cricket World Cup and T20 World Cup competitions.
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By GlobalDataAll the senior major men’s and women’s ICC events will receive TV coverage, beginning with the men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the US and West Indies.
The men’s and women’s U19 World Cups will be shown digitally on willow.tv with the semi-finals and finals available on Willow TV.
The US is a strategic growth market for the ICC with the next T20 World Cup set to be the first tournament it stages in the country. The ICC claims over 30 million cricket fans live in the US and Canada.
Willow TV, the dominant broadcaster of cricket in the region for almost 20 years, will offer “a plethora of content and enhancements across its platforms to enhance the fan experience.”
The service is accessible in over 70 million households while fans will also be able to access ICC cricket digitally on willow.tv which is available across multiple devices and provides additional features such as live HD streaming, interactive video scoreboards, and statistics.
Online platforms TOI.com and Cricbuzz will provide more ICC major event content including digital clips.
The men’s competitions to be covered by Willow include the Champions Trophy (Pakistan) and World Test Championship Final in 2025 (England), the T20 World Cup in 2026 (India & Sri Lanka), and the Cricket World Cup (South Africa, Zimbabwe & Namibia) and World Test Championship Final in 2027.
The women’s events to be featured are the T20 World Cups in 2024 (Bangladesh) and 2026 (England), the Cricket World Cup 2025 (India), and T20 Champions Trophy in 2027 (Sri Lanka).
Geoff Allardice, ICC chief executive, said: “USA is an important strategic market for the ICC and the direct partnership with Willow will provide us with a number of exciting opportunities to strengthen engagement with fans in the region.
“With content available across Willow’s digital and TV platforms, it is an incredible opportunity for new fans to enjoy and engage with the sport across North America.”
Satyan Gajwani, Times Internet vice chairman, added: "Willow TV has long been the home for cricket in North America. Having exclusively covered the ICC’s World Cups since 2015, we are excited to continue our partnership until the end of 2027.
“We continue to focus on delivering the best cricket consumption experience across all devices and platforms and to share some of the most exciting, power-packed events in the coming years.”
