American TV giant in battle for the Ashes
➤ Discovery wants rights for Netflix-style streaming platform ➤ Sky and BT also bidding for £50m deal as Amazon pulls out
Discovery, the American television giant, is a surprise contender to screen this winter’s Ashes, as part of attempts to revolutionise sports coverage on its Netflix-style streaming platform.
The Daily Telegraph understands the broadcaster is in a three-horse race with BT and Sky for a potential £50million-plus four-year package to show England matches in Australia. Amazon has, however, ruled itself out of a deal that covers the men’s and women’s Ashes, the men’s white-ball tour in 2022 and the Big Bash League franchise.
At least three serious offers have been tabled to Cricket Australia for a UK rights package that, some analysts say, represents potentially better value than the billion-poundplus deals that are struck for Premier League football.
With no plans to join an “overheated” domestic football bidding war due this spring, it is understood that Discovery views the Ashes as an opportunity to build on a new customer base it is aiming to establish during the Tokyo Olympics.
The TV group believes its Discovery+ service will rival Disney, Apple and Netflix in size, having been launched in January in the United States and in some parts of Europe, as viewers turn away from network television.
Cricket Australia circulated tender documents last month for its four-year UK package, held by BT Sport. Sources said the previous term, of five years, was purchased for in excess of £80million, but there has since been a downward trend in the sports rights market.
Like football, cricket has tried to tempt new platforms, and interest from Discovery is seen as a major boost. The established front-runners to win remain Sky and BT, which recently landed the UK rights to broadcast New Zealand and West Indies domestic internationals, including England women’s and men’s tours respectively. Sky has a deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board until 2024 for home matches, and will be keen to add the Ashes in December. The Ashes is ideal timing for Discovery as it could promote its coverage heavily during and after the Olympics. Coverage of the Games is effectively being shared with the BBC until 2024.
Discovery believes its service will turn a profit because it is ensuring viewers across Europe get access to every minute. Pricing is yet to be settled in the UK, but it was set up in the United States at $4.99 (£3.63) per month, or $6.99 without adverts.
English Test cricket returned to free-to-air for the first time since the 2005 Ashes in January, but analysts played down the suggestion that Channel 4’s reputed £5million deal for the India v England series marked a shift toward terrestrial.
Channel 4’s coverage of the opening day of the first Test in Chennai attracted a peak audience of 1.1million, double that of Sky’s coverage of the start of the previous Sri Lankaengland series.