Global TV sports producer and distributor, Sunset+Vine, and Cricket Hong Kong, the organisers of the Hong Kong T20 Blitz, have confirmed broadcaster deals in place for the third edition of the competition, that takes place between the 6th-11th February 2018 at the Tin Kwong Road Recreation Club.

BT Sport (UK), Fox Sports (Australia), OSN (Middle East), Neo Sports (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh), 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 Cricket Hong Kong to produce its highest quality broadcast production to date as it continues to build on the momentum from the T20 Blitz livestream last March, which attracted nearly 12 million views across Cricket Hong Kong’s digital channels.

Now into its third season, the Hong Kong T20 Blitz has built a reputation of fielding top level international talent, which started in the inaugural tournament when Australian World Cup winning captain Michael Clarke signed with Kowloon Cantons. In 2018, each team will field five overseas players who will be joined by Hong Kong’s best domestic talent. Headline players for the tournament include Kumar Sangakkara, Darren Sammy, Sohail Tanvir. Jofra Archer and Wahab Riaz. The star power is not confined to the field, with an international commentary line-up also assembled that includes Dean Jones, Alan Wilkins, Chris Rogers and Gautham Bhimani.

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.”

The Hong Kong T20 Blitz will take place between 6th-11th February 2018 at the Tin Kwong Road Recreation Club.

For more information, please contact:

Greg Moore, Head of PR, Sunset+Vine

greg.moore@sunsetvine.com