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Cricket’s Ashes to remain on pay-TV?
According to the UK government’s sports minister, Hugh Robertson, funding cuts to sport make it even less likely that the so-called ‘Ashes’ cricket matches between England and Australia will be returned to free-to-view TV. Robertson said the economic picture made it even more important that sports had the freedom to sell their broadcast rights to whoever would pay them the most.
The previous Labour government had given broad approval to make the Ashes a listed event and available for free-to-air television, but a decision on a review by former senior football executive and broadcaster David Davies had not been taken before the May general election.
If this were the case, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) would be able to prolong its deal with BSkyB, with the Conservative administration seeking pledges on
Earlier in the year, Robertson observed that people were “just waking up to the fact that eighty per cent of the ECB's income comes from broadcast income and if you take that away you are going to decimate quite a lot of investment that's gone in to women's cricket and the grassroots. That's a brave if not a very foolish call to make."
According to the UK government’s sports minister, Hugh Robertson, funding cuts to sport make it even less likely that the so-called ‘Ashes’ cricket matches between England and Australia will be returned to free-to-view TV. Robertson said the economic picture made it even more important that sports had the freedom to sell their broadcast rights to whoever would pay them the most.
The previous Labour government had given broad approval to make the Ashes a listed event and available for free-to-air television, but a decision on a review by former senior football executive and broadcaster David Davies had not been taken before the May general election.
If this were the case, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) would be able to prolong its deal with BSkyB, with the Conservative administration seeking pledges on
Earlier in the year, Robertson observed that people were “just waking up to the fact that eighty per cent of the ECB's income comes from broadcast income and if you take that away you are going to decimate quite a lot of investment that's gone in to women's cricket and the grassroots. That's a brave if not a very foolish call to make."