This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2016) |
Country | United States and Canada |
---|---|
Headquarters | BCCL Worldwide Inc. Redwood City, CA |
Programming | |
Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed) |
Ownership | |
Owner | Times Internet |
Parent | The Times Group |
History | |
Launched | August 27, 2010 |
Links | |
Website | willow |
Willow is an American pay television sports channel which is devoted to airing overseas cricket events, including live and recorded matches and other cricket-related programming in English, with the majority of its advertising targeted towards the Indian subcontinent diaspora in North America. The network is carried both as a traditional subscription-television channel which airs on pay-TV providers, and a paid streaming service available online.
The network was launched in the U.S. on August 27, 2010, and in Canada on May 14, 2019. The channel merged with NEO Cricket's American network in February 2013 as that provider drew down their American operations with the Willow name remaining. [1] Times Internet, part of The Times Group, bought the service in 2016. In April 2024, coinciding with the 2024 Indian Premier League and ahead of the Men's T20 World Cup, Willow was rebranded and integrated with Times Group's cricket website Cricbuzz. [2]
Willow has operated an Internet portal for live streaming of cricket events at www.willow.tv since 2003 for a monthly subscription fee. Willow has driven various innovations in the coverage of cricket, like video-based live scorecards and editorials. The website provides subscribers with video streams available on mobile apps and a streaming feed. A dedicated app for Willow was added for Apple TV on June 24, 2014. [3]
Willow has been the subject of complaints about its billing practices, including making it impossible to unsubscribe through the website or app, and ignoring repeated emails requesting cancellations. [4] They have since made it possible to unsubscribe through their website.
Willow holds the rights to some of the matches of the following teams and leagues:
Cricket is the most popular sport in India. It is played almost everywhere in the country. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is the governing body of Indian cricket and conduct all domestic tournaments and select the players for India national cricket team and India women's national cricket team.
The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is a biennial T20 cricket tournament, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) every 2 years since its inauguration in 2007 with the exception of 2011, 2018 and 2020. This event was rebranded from ICC World Twenty20 to ICC Men's T20 World Cup in November 2018. It is one of the most precious and widely viewed International cricket tournaments alongside the Cricket World Cup.
Sports broadcasting contracts in Canada include:
Cricket in Nepal has gained popularity over the years and has become the country's one of the most popular and widely followed sport. It rapidly grew popularity in the mid 2010s, following the slight successes of the Nepalese cricket team as well as the country's explosive rise in social media and television viewing influence from neighboring country India. It is played by many people throughout the country, especially in the Terai region. The biggest cricketing achievement of the national cricket team was when the team reached the qualification tournament of 2014 ICC World T20 held in Bangladesh. Nepal's playing season runs from September to November and starts again in March before finishing in May. As of October 2023, there were 3400 senior cricket clubs and over 35000 registered players in Nepal.
Nitish Roenik Kumar is a Canadian-born cricketer who currently plays for the United States national cricket team.
Gulbadin Naib is an Afghan cricketer. An all-rounder, Naib bats right-handed and bowls right-arm fast-medium. In April 2019, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) named Naib the team's new One Day International (ODI) captain ahead of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, replacing Asghar Afghan. However, following the Cricket World Cup, where Afghanistan lost all of their matches, Rashid Khan was named as the new captain of the Afghanistan cricket team across all three formats. Naib led Afghanistan to the silver medal in the 2022 Asian Games.
Najibullah Zadran is an Afghan cricketer and the vice captain of the Afghanistan Twenty20 International (T20I) side. Zadran is a left-handed batsman who bowls right-arm off breaks. He made his international debut in July 2012.
Steven Ryan Taylor is an American cricketer. He has played for the United States national cricket team since 2010 and previously captained the team. He is a left-handed top-order batsman and bowls right-arm off spin; early in his career he also played as a wicket-keeper. He has also played in West Indian domestic cricket including for several teams in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Ayasha Rahman Shukhtara Boishakhi is a Bangladeshi cricketer who plays for the Bangladesh cricket team. She plays as a right-handed batter and right-arm off break bowler. Rahman was born in Khulna, Bangladesh.
Sanjida Islam is a Bangladeshi cricketer who plays for the Bangladesh women's national cricket team. She is a right-handed batter. Sanjida was born in Rangpur, Bangladesh.
Nikhil Dutta is a Canadian cricketer. He has represented the Canada national cricket team since 2013 as a right-arm off spin bowler. He has also played for franchises in the Caribbean Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League and Global T20 Canada.
Fahima Khatun is a Bangladeshi cricketer who plays for the Bangladesh women's national cricket team. In May 2018, in a 50 over tour match in South Africa, she took eight wickets for five runs in ten overs. She was the first cricketer for Bangladesh to take a hat-trick in a Women's Twenty20 International match.
Shamima Sultana is a Bangladeshi cricketer. In June 2018, she was part of Bangladesh's squad that won their first ever Women's Asia Cup title, winning the 2018 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup tournament. Later the same month, she was named to Bangladesh's squad for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament.
Mosammat Ritu Moni is a Bangladeshi cricketer who plays for the Bangladesh women's national cricket team. She plays as a right-handed batter and a right-arm medium bowler.
Nahida Akter is a Bangladeshi cricketer. She is a right handed batter and a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. She made her debut in international matches against Pakistan in a T20 match on 30 September 2015.
Nigar Sultana is a Bangladeshi cricketer and captain of the Bangladesh women's national cricket team in the WODI and the WT20I formats. She is a wicketkeeper and right hand batter who bats in the middle order.
Hayden Rashidi Walsh is an American cricketer who has represented both the United States and the West Indies cricket teams in international cricket. He was born in the United States Virgin Islands to an Antiguan father, Hayden Walsh Sr. He is a left-handed batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler.
Muhammad Ahsan Ali Khan is an American professional cricketer. He has played for the United States national cricket team since 2016 as a right-arm fast bowler. He has also played franchise Twenty20 cricket in the West Indies, Pakistan, India and the United Arab Emirates.
Rayyan Pathan is a Canadian cricketer. He debuted for the Canada national cricket team in 2013. He plays as a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler.
Sherfane Eviston Rutherford is a Guyanese cricketer. He made his Twenty20 International debut for the West Indies against Bangladesh on 22 December 2018 and his One Day International debut in December 2023 against England.