This past weekend, ESPN2 televised the T20 Cricket World Cup Final live on American television for the first time.  And in good news for fans of international sports, ESPN is making a more significant investment in cricket.

Beginning this year, ESPN3 will broadcast games from the Indian Premier League.  What is the IPL you may ask – only the world’s most watched cricket competition and what was once called by Forbes the “World’s Hottest Sports League.”  It’s only been around since 2008, but the IPL attracts top cricketers to take part from April to June.  Here’s the announcement from ESPN

ESPN has reached a content exchange agreement with Willow TV for exclusive live digital coverage of Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket on ESPN3 in the US.  The deal – which granted Willow TV telecast rights to the India vs. New Zealand series – will give fans in the US access to select matches throughout the 2014 season.  Additionally, the agreement includes digital video highlights rights in the US on ESPNcricinfo platforms.

“ESPN3 continues to establish itself as a leading destination for live coverage of major cricket events in the US, and we plan to build our momentum at the conclusion of the ICC World Twenty20 Championship with the start of the IPL’s seventh season,” said Jason Bernstein, senior director of programming and acquisitions, ESPN.  “The IPL features some of the best cricketers – and some of the most passionate fans – in the world, and we look forward to delivering these events nationally to a US audience.”

ESPN3 will carry both IPL semifinal matches and seven “Game of the Week” matches.  Additionally, the deal includes unlimited highlights rights to those nine matches plus select highlights rights to all other IPL matches.

The IPL is so popular because like the recent World Cup competition, it takes place using the Twenty20 format, which sees matches take place over the course of a couple hours instead of the five day coma-inducing marathons that American sports fans often think of when they think of cricket.

We’ve seen American sports networks invest more in international sports in recent months – Fox Sports 2 now shows Australian Rules Football and ESPN is offering the most cricket seen since the glory days of Fox Sports World.  As a fan of all of these international sports, this is a great development.  Now if only we can get a major network to pick up darts and/or gaelic football.

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