EL SEGUNDO, CA, Thurs. Mar. 24, 2005: U.S. cricket fans seeking to catch the West Indies, Sri Lanka or England teams in action, can tune into DIRECTV, Inc. The company, which touts itself as one of the fastest-growing digital television service provider, announced yesterday it had acquired exclusive U.S. broadcast rights matches played by the three teams. The cricket matches from each of these countries will be available as part of the DIRECTV CricketTicket package. The second season of CricketTicket, which begins March 31, with the South African tour of the West Indies, will include more than 180 days of cricket through 2005, and is available for $225. “With the addition of these rights to our CricketTicket package, DIRECTV is now the clear choice for U.S. cricket fans,” said Aaron McNally, vice-president, International, DIRECTV, Inc. “With exclusive rights to eight of the top 11 cricketing nations, including several India and Pakistan tours, no other satellite or cable TV company in America comes close.” The West Indies agreement, through Setanta Sport in Dublin, will allow DIRECTV to exclusively offer cricket matches for two years and includes tours from nations such as India, Pakistan, South Africa, Australia and Zimbabwe. The acquisition of cricket broadcast rights is part of a broader initiative by DIRECTV to expand its international programming services. Reprinted from hardbeatnews.com