Originally Posted by malcy30:
“I thought Sky didn't even broadcast all the county matches which were available to them under the current contract. Was it only one match rather than two at the end of last season ?
Any new sponsor would want the CC on TV at least as much as available under current TV deal. Obviously the ECB can't force Sky to broadcast as per the contract which they were silly wasn't made conditional if they want the England games.”
it's what I've said before about bed-blocking the rights. It's OK buying them, but it's another matter having them and not showing the games, in which case the ECB have the cash (so they're happy) but the CC followers and sponsors miss out.
The ECB should have clauses that insist Sky show a minimum of games; and if they don't then that part of the contract should be null-and-voided and can be given to a competitor (although can't see many wanting it

) who could then televise - or stream - the games even when Sky are showing a test or ODI.
Seems odd that you can watch Bangladesh play Oman next month, but you can't watch Lancashire v Surrey. Of course, the answer is the cameras are already in situ so Sky are simply taking the pictures....but they could cover the CC much cheaper if they could scale down the coverage; how many cameras, cameramen and commentators are REALLY needed for a county game for it to be passable? And there's no need for any of the referrals tech; in the CC just the good old umpire with his dodgy eyesight has managed for years