Amazon Prime Secures Australian International Cricket Broadcasts

Australia's David Warner watches the ball after playing a shot during the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup one-day international (ODI) match between Australia and Bangladesh at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Nov. 11, 2023. Punit Paranjpe/AFP via Getty Images

Australian viewers will need an Amazon Prime subscription to watch International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments from 2024.

Previously, major cricket tournaments were available on Foxtel, Kayo Sports, and the Nine Network.

Both men’s and women’s cricket tournaments including the Ashes, World Test Championship Final, T20 World Cups, and the ODI World Cup will only be available on online from January next year, all the way to 2028.

The broadcast deal includes all 448 games Australia will play over four years.

The news comes amid a record-breaking ICC 2023 World Cup which saw many stadium and onfield records broken, including Australia taking home a record 6th World Cup trophy, as well as record attendance with 1.25 million fans crossing the turnstiles—the highest on record, according to the ICC.

ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice was thrilled with the Amazon Prime deal saying it would raise “interest and passion for ICC events across the globe, and especially in Australia where cricket fans have enjoyed the recent success of their men’s and women’s teams.”

Approximately 200 million people were subscribed to Prime Video in 2020, with the number expected to reach 265 million by 2027.

“We look forward to working with Prime Video Australia to provide an innovative coverage of world-class cricket to more fans in Australia,” Mr. Allardice stated.

ICC tournament matches will feature on Prime Video alongside a multitude of sports, including the Women’s National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball (MLB), and Australia’s A-League soccer tournament.

Head of Prime Video Australia and New Zealand, Hushidar Kharas, stated his excitement at the ICC joining Prime Video by stating that Prime Video has “worked to create a single destination for audiences to find new movies, live sports, and their favorite TV shows.”

Mr. Kharas also said he was “thrilled to be able to offer our customers the live broadcast of the Cricket World Cup included in their Prime membership!”

However, one MP has spoken out against the changes.

Federal Member for Kennedy, Bob Katter said, “It’s just not cricket. It’s completely un-Australian,” he said in a statement (pdf) on Dec. 6.

“We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Families are struggling to pay their mortgages, put food on the table, and fill their cars and now we are stripping them of the joy of watching free live sport.”