TNT Sports close to securing UK live rights for England white-ball tour of Australia
TNT Sports is close to securing live UK broadcasting rights for England’s white-ball tour of Australia next month, and Channel 5 is in advanced talks over a highlights package that could include one match shown free-to-air.
Channel 5 is negotiating with Cricket Australia for highlights of the eight-match tour and is also discussing live rights for one of the five T20 internationals. The terrestrial broadcaster holds live rights for two home men’s and two women’s T20s each summer in a four-year deal that began this year but has never televised an England match from overseas. The opening T20 in Melbourne on 21 November, scheduled to start at 8.15am on a Saturday, is the fixture of greatest interest to Channel 5 as it is likely to attract the biggest UK audience. If completed, a Channel 5 free-to-air transmission would be the first England overseas game shown FTA since Channel 4 picked up rights for a Test series in India in 2021 during the final Covid-19 lockdown.
TNT Sports has broadcast England’s last three Ashes series in Australia, and its decision to bid for this white-ball tour drew interest from Sky Sports and Dazn. The approach by TNT follows a pattern of rights holders pursuing high-profile England away series where they see commercial value. Broad interest from multiple broadcasters underlined the competitive market for the package.
Channel 5’s potential live involvement adds a commercial dimension because both Channel 5 and TNT Sports are owned by US media giant Paramount Skydance, which could open the door to collaboration between the two brands on sports rights. Channel 5 also secured a highlights deal for the Commonwealth Games in the UK last summer, with that event shown exclusively live on TNT Sports. Those recent deals illustrate existing commercial links between the broadcasters within the same ownership group.
Brendon McCullum’s white-ball squad are scheduled to fly to Australia at the start of next month after a brief return home following the conclusion of the one-day international tri-series currently taking place in Pakistan. England sit in a position where they are struggling to reach the final of that tri-series after successive defeats to the hosts and Sri Lanka over the past seven days. Those results form part of the team’s immediate preparation story ahead of the Australia tour.
Following criticism of England’s preparation for last winter’s Ashes, the England and Wales Cricket Board has scheduled a 50-over warm-up game at the WACA on 7 November ahead of a three-match series that begins at the Perth Stadium on 13 November, with five T20s beginning the week later. Those fixtures comprise the confirmed match schedule surrounding the tour and the warm-up element intended to address preparation concerns. The five T20s referenced form the latter portion of the planned itinerary.
The value of overseas cricket rights has fallen in recent years, a trend that has resulted in most of England’s winter tours being sold at the last minute. Sky Sports have bought the rights for England’s Test series in South Africa over Christmas and are broadcasting the tri-series in Pakistan, but the broadcaster has moved away from signing long-term deals with overseas boards. TNT Sports declined to comment, but Cricket Australia is understood to be confident the deal will be completed ahead of the tour next month.
