UK and Ireland pay-TV heavyweight Sky has extended its rights deal with the Cricket South Africa (CSA) governing body for another season (2026-27).
Through the rights extension, announced ahead of the first South Africa home international game of 2026-27 taking place today, Sky Sports will exclusively broadcast all international cricket in South Africa over the next six months.
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This includes a major tour of the country by England's men's team, with three test matches and three one-day internationals set to take place there across December and January.
This deal has come following a lengthy period of concern that no UK broadcaster would snap up these rights – Sky's previous deal with CSA had expired at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, and there had been fears that a new broadcast partner would not be found in time for the aforementioned tour.
The agreement was brokered by heavyweight sports marketing agency IMG, which is CSA's broadcast rights partner through 2031, with the most recent deal between the two parties dating back to late 2022.
South Africa's men's team – the Proteas – are also playing home series against Australia (taking place right now) and Bangladesh over the next few months, while the women's side are set to take on Australia and India at home. In total, therefore, this tie-up covers 34 games.
Sky has covered international cricket from South Africa for over three decades, while it also airs the country's SA20 domestic men's Twenty20 franchise tournament.
In terms of its cricket rights stable, the broadcaster holds rights to show every home England international – across both men's and women's national teams – through the 2028 season.
In addition, Sky covers multiple overseas franchise leagues, including the Indian Premier League, the SA20, and Australia's Big Bash League.
Domestically, South African home international cricket is covered by SuperSport, the pay-TV broadcaster owned by global giant Canal+.
