HONG KONG: Global TV sports producer and distributor, Sunset+Vine, and China Cricket International Limited, the organisers of the Hong Kong T20 Blitz, have confirmed broadcaster deals for the third edition of the competition, that takes place between the 6th-11th February at the Kowloon Cricket Club.
BT Sport (UK), Fox Sports (Australia), OSN (Middle East), Neo Sports (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh), DSports (India), ESPN Caribbean, and Chinese-owned StarTimes (Africa) have secured media rights for the five-team tournament featuring Galaxy Gladiators Lantau, HKI United, City Kaitak, Kowloon Cantons and Hung Hom JD Jaguars. The potential audience reach currently sits in excess of 175 million with negotiations with several broadcasters on-going.
The partnership with Sunset+Vine will enable the tournament to produce its highest quality broadcast production to date as it continues to build on the momentum from the T20 Blitz live stream last March, which attracted nearly 12 million views across Cricket Hong Kong’s digital channels.
For the 2018 edition, a record 27 overseas players are set to join Hong Kong's best domestic talent as final squads were confirmed ahead of the tournament. Each team will field five overseas players. Big names for the tournament include Kumar Sangakkara, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Smith and Sohail Tanvir. The international commentary line-up assembled includes Dean Jones, Alan Wilkins, Chris Rogers and Gautham Bhimani.
Ten overseas stars from the 2017 edition are returning, including headliners Sangakkara (Galaxy Gladiators), Sammy (Jaguars) and Smith (Kowloon Cantons).
Cricket Hong Kong director Jonathan Cummings said: “Each year we have set ourselves the task of raising the bar. Last year, the increase in overseas players, and quality ones at that, saw the tournament attract enormous interest and a lot of the credit for that has to go to all the franchise owners who are committed to promoting the game in Hong Kong.
“Now that we are working with the ICC’s live events production partner Sunset+Vine, we are taking the tournament’s production values to the next level as we reach a truly global audience for the first time.”
Sunset+Vine is the current production partner for all the International Cricket Council’s major events for the period 2016-2019, including the ICC World Cup and ICC World Twenty20 tournaments. Its team will be led by Huw Bevan who heads the SE Asia operation out of Singapore.
Huw Bevan, executive producer, Sunset+Vine, added: “This is a crucial moment for this exciting cricket franchise as more and more international broadcasters are coming on board. We will draw on our extensive cricket experience to produce a dynamic package which will allow cricket fans to enjoy 11 matches of top class action and firmly place this tournament on the cricketing calendar and Hong Kong as a leading cricket destination in the region.”
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