IPL UK rights: BT Sport to show every game in 2019

UK broadcaster BT Sport has secured rights to every match of the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament.

BT confirmed the deal via its official Twitter account just days after pay-TV rival Sky Sports revealed that it had lost coverage of the competition only one season into its multi-year agreement with global rights holder Star India.

Sky has been showing the IPL since 2014 and last year signed a multi-year extension of that arrangement with Star, which holds global rights to the eight-team competition until 2022. However, in a statement to customers, Sky revealed it would not be showing this year’s IPL, saying: ‘It has been confirmed that Star India will exploit the rights themselves this year so Sky will not be covering the IPL cricket in 2019.’