Sky TV secures Commonwealth Games coverage for 2022 and 2026

Monday, 11 November 2019

Sky Television has secured the broadcast rights for the 2022 and 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Sky chief executive Martin Stewart said that being able to broadcast Kiwis competing in Commonwealth and Olympics events was 'incredibly important to us'.

The deal, which means the Commonwealth Games will return to Sky and Prime, adds to Sky's existing agreement with the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) to cover the summer, winter and youth Olympic Games.

Sky and Spark Sport are locked in a fierce battle for sports coverage. While Sky currently has a corner on Super Rugby and All Blacks matches until 2025, it recently lost to Spark the rights to show New Zealand domestic cricket for six years after 2020.

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Kereyn Smith, chief executive and Secretary General of the NZOC, said the organisation welcomed Sky's ongoing support of the New Zealand team 'as they extend their long-standing partnership with us through until 2026'.

Sky Television has secured crucial rugby broadcast rights, in a move likely to shore up its sports war-chest after haemorrhaging cricket and the Rugby World Cup to rival Spark.

The Birmingham Games will take place between July 27 to August 7 in 2022. Sky will deliver all the events live on multiple Sky Sport channels, streamed on Sky Go (which is free for Sky customers) and Sky Sport Now.

For non-Sky viewers, Sky will offer free-to-air live and curated coverage on Prime. 'Those who want to see key moments free on Prime can do just that; sports fans who want to watch all the action across the wide range of events can do so on Sky Sport or stream it on Sky Sport Now and Sky Go,' Stewart said.

Sky estimates that 2.5 million New Zealanders watched its free coverage of the Rio Olympics in 2016, and 2.4 million watched the Rugby World Cup 2015. But rights for the most recent Rugby World Cup were held by Spark which partnered with TVNZ.

Shares in Sky have fallen 61 per cent over the last year, due in part to a $670 million writeoff of goodwill in August. Its shares were unchanged this morning at 91c.