Sixteen Indian Premier League matches are set to be shown on free-to-air TV in the UK, with ITV signing an innovative deal with fellow broadcaster DAZN.
According to a report from the Daily Mail, the two broadcasting giants have combined to take the current IPL rights away from Sky Sports on a five-year deal. ITV will air 16 of the regular season games, with DAZN taking the other 58, including the semi-finals and final.
According to the report, DAZN are said to be funding the large part of the joint venture, having sub-contracted a handful of games to ITV in order to grow their audience.
The leading domestic T20 competition has been broadcast by Sky Sports for three years, but the TV giants have decided to walk away from the coverage. It seems to be Sky's latest step in centring their focus around English domestic cricket.
In recent years, BT Sport have snapped up the rights to cover the majority of England's ventures away from home, including the last two away Ashes series in Australia as well as the recent two-series clash with New Zealand. Sky have remained loyal to England's home series, domestic T20 and 50-over cricket, as well as the Hundred.
Whilst DAZN have never covered cricket in the UK, the broadcasting company have showcased the sport in other corners of the world. As a result, they already hold the IPL TV rights in both Australia and South Africa, and have now further expanded into the UK.
For ITV, it sees a return to IPL coverage after the broadcaster covered the mega-money T20 competition between 2010 and 2014. The Indian-based tournament is one of the most valuable the sporting world, with domestic TV deal in India with Star Sports said to be worth £5billion.
