EXCLUSIVE: ITV missed staging 16 live IPL cricket matches after talks with rights holders DAZN collapsed… as Sky Sports swooped in instead to fill the gap for tournament starting next week
- DAZN has the right to host all 74 matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL)
- But the plans were to give ITV the opportunity to stage 16 of the games live.
- However, disputes over the organization of the final have meant that the talks have come to nothing.
The IPL will be broadcast live on both DAZN and Sky Sports from next week following the late collapse of a deal that would have seen some matches shown on ITV.
Sportsmail revealed last month that DAZN had bought the live rights to all 74 matches of the world’s richest franchise league and offered 16 of them to ITV in a bid to boost its viewership.
ITV was keen to sign the deal and negotiations reached an advanced stage, but a deal proved elusive and talks broke down a week before the start of the tournament, which begins next Friday with a clash between the champions Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings.
DAZN is understood to have been frustrated by the lack of promotional opportunities offered by ITV, who in turn were unhappy at being denied the chance to screen the play-offs or the IPL final.
ITV has lost the opportunity to host 16 live Indian Premier League matches
DAZN was quick to react to this setback by agreeing to co-exclusively share the rights with Sky, which will also show all 74 games.
The IPL has been broadcast on Sky for the last three years, while DAZN already has the live rights in Australia and South Africa.
India’s IPL domestic television deal with Star Sports is worth £5bn, making it the second most lucrative competition in the world in all sports per match at £14m per game after the NFL .