Viacom18 India bags Major League Cricket’s broadcast rights

Major League Cricket (MLC) announced on Friday that it had secured a media partner to broadcast matches in India. The maiden edition of the competition will be telecast on Viacom18’s sports network. The organisation, which also hosts a streaming service, will stream the games on JioCinema alongside broadcasting matches on Sports18, starting July 13.

The first match will take place between Texas Super Kings and Los Angeles Knight Riders at Grand Prairie Stadium near Dallas, Texas. Other competing teams include MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas, and Washington Freedom.

The tournament will feature teams competing in a round-robin format with the top four best performing teams fighting it out in a multi-game playoff, followed by the final on July 30.

Viacom18 Sports Head, Partnerships & Acquisitions, Hursh Shrivastava said, “JioCinema continues to change the landscape of sports consumption, and with Major League Cricket, fans will watch their favourite T20 cricketers and cheer for teams affiliated to their favourite franchisees. Indian viewers love T20 cricket, and we expect them to enjoy the action from the inaugural edition of the league across JioCinema and Sports18.”

Vijay Srinivasan, Co-Founder of MLC, too, spoke about this partnership, saying, “We are delighted to partner with Viacom18 and ensure that the world class T20 action Major League Cricket feature is widely available in India, streamed on JioCinema and broadcast on Sports18.”

It is noteworthy that four out of the six teams in the league feature owners from the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises. Cricket fans can expect a large number of players from IPL competing for the top prize in MLC.

For MI New York, representation comes from the likes of Rashid Khan, Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult, Nicholas Pooran, Dewald Brevis and Kagiso Rabada. Texas Super Kings will be captained by Faf du Plessis playing alongside Dwayne Bravo, Mitchel Santner, Devon Conway and Ambati Rayudu. LA Knight Riders will feature stars such as Sunil Narine, Jason Roy, Andre Russell, Martin Guptill and Azam Zampa. Seattle Orcas comprises of international talents like Quinton de Kock, Mitchell Marsh, Wanindu Hasaranga, Anrich Nortje and Marco Jansen.

Viacom’s resume only gets strengthened with the addition of MLC to its already solid list of world-class sporting events. It currently has streaming rights for the IPL, SA20, the upcoming India’s tour of West Indies, 2024 Paris Olympics, and Ultimate Table Tennis. Outlook