UK coverage of Hero Caribbean Premier League cricket is moving from BT Sport to UKTV’s Dave, the broadcaster’s free to air entertainment channel.
The one-year deal between UKTV and the competition’s governing body will see Dave screen games in full at 1pm throughout the Twenty20 tournament, with five games being shown live from 11.30pm, including the final on 7th August.
Running from 29th June until 7th August 2016, the tournament will be held across six venues in the Caribbean, and for the first time six fixtures will be played in Florida, USA.
The CPL deal is a further move into the realm of sports broadcasting for Dave, which has already brought viewers live boxing and darts this year.
Steve North, Dave general manager, said, “We’re really looking forward to our exclusive coverage of the Hero Caribbean Premier League.
“Dave is committed to bringing more live sport to free-to-air television and we’re proud that we can offer cricket a new home for fans this summer.”
Richard Watsham, director of commissioning for UKTV, said, “Securing exclusive rights to broadcast the Hero Caribbean Premier League is an important development to our sporting portfolio on the channel.
“The CPL is unlike any other domestic cricket tournament; with the first match only a couple of weeks away we are very much looking forward to bringing all of the energy, noise and excitement from the tournament, free to air to our viewers.”
Cricket: Hero Caribbean Premier League starts at 1pm on 30th June with full coverage of Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel v St Lucia Souks.
Last year BT, CPL’s former UK home, signed a five year deal with Cricket Australia which gives it exclusive rights to all Australian Test Matches, One Day Internationals and T20 Internationals played in Australia, including the 2017/18 Ashes.