Discovery, the media giant in the United States, has entered a three-horse race with pay-TV broadcasters BT and Sky Sports seeking a four-year package for UK rights to England’s upcoming tour of Australia on its Discovery+ streaming service from Cricket Australia (CA).
As per reports, the rights package will cover both the men’s and women’s Ashes, the men’s One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 series in 2022, Australia’s other home internationals and the domestic Big Bash League (BBL) competition.
Significantly, Cricket Australia (CA) had issued the tender documents for the package in February.
BT Sport currently holds the rights in a five-year deal that began in 2016 after spending around 110 million US dollar.
Discovery has already acquired the rights to stream the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Europe.
Significantly, BT had aired the last Ashes in Australia in 2017-18, while Sky has a deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) until 2024 for home matches.