ECB could face Sky pressure over T20 highlights

The ECB could face an awkward disagreement with Sky, its most significant commercial partner, over plans to broadcast domestic cricket highlights.

While the ECB believe they have the right, under existing contracts, to show limited highlights packages of domestic games at no cost, Sky maintain that their permission is required for any such coverage.

Sky pay around £65m a year to the ECB for exclusive live TV rights of the English international and domestic season. They have recently extended their deal with the ECB up to the end of the 2019 season.

But the ECB have grown concerned that the lack of cricket on free-to-air television might be a contributory factor in the apparent decline in interest in the game. And, in an attempt to grow interest in the sport, they have decided to explore the possibility of showing some NatWest T20 Blast highlights in the 2015 season.

To that end, they recently invited tender applications with broadcast partners who could produce such a highlights show. Surrey, who have led the fight for a return of some domestic cricket to free-to-air television, originally offered to cover the cost of production fees for the entire season; a figure they estimate to be as little as £40,000.

The production company will take the feed from counties with at least two cameras at each game - cameras which have often, in the past, been used by team analysts - and provide up to five minutes' coverage from each game not shown live by Sky.

There has, at this point, been negligible interest from terrestrial broadcasters in any potential highlights package - not least due to a concern that the quality of the package will be some way below Sky's coverage - so the ECB are instead likely to broadcast the show online.

All that depends, however, on whether Sky fight to prevent such a show. While they have taken a relaxed attitude to counties showing some footage on their websites in recent seasons, they are underwhelmed at the prospect of wider coverage.

It seems unlikely that the disagreement will escalate to involve legal proceedings. Both sides insist the relationship remains strong and, while ITV will broadcast World Cup highlights, the lack of interest in domestic T20 coverage underlines how important Sky remains to the ECB. Ultimately, it may well be that Sky do not contest the initiative.

The irony is that Sky are also considering whether to show some domestic games - perhaps as many as one a week during the NatWest Blast competition - on their free-to-air Pick channel. Both the ECB and Sky understand the argument that the game requires exposure to prosper.

Meanwhile Shadow sports minister Clive Efford told the Daily Telegraph that a Labour government would consider an expansion of sport's 'crown jewel' events which have to be shown on free to air TV. But he appeared to offer little hope of a meaningful change to the current arrangement in cricket.

"With regards to the Ashes, I'd want to sit down with the ECB and discuss the implications of that with them," he said. "Because the sale of those rights is a large part of their income, which they use to invest at grassroots."