ENGLAND’S ELITE NETBALLERS SCORE EXCLUSIVE TV DEAL

England Netball and Sky Sports have reached an agreement which will see the channel broadcast the Netball Superleague for the first time, starting this November.
The new deal will bring the first regular coverage of domestic netball on British TV. Featuring international stars from England and the other home nations, the Netball Superleague is the most prestigious netball competition in the UK.

A total of 17 matches will be shown from the tournament, starting on Thursday 30 November. During the season, Sky Sports will broadcast:

• REGULAR SEASON One match a week from netball's superleague in prime time on Thursday nights. Each show will also feature highlights of the week's
  three other games.
• PLAY OFFS Two games from across both weekends of the knock out stages of the tournament, played in May 2007
• GRAND FINAL The climax of the season, played in June 2007. Last season's
  winners were TeamBath.

Under this new agreement, Sky Sports will also show six England international matches this season, starting with a three match Test series against South Africa in January 2007, as well as a tri-nations series against Jamaica and Australia in May 2007. England, current Commonwealth bronze medal holder, is currently ranked fourth in the world behind New Zealand, Australia and Jamaica. The deal follows Sky Sports coverage of England's international matches against Jamaica in 2005 and South Africa in 2004.

Announcing the new deal, Sue Ashworth of Sky Sports said, "We are making a real commitment to netball with more than twenty programmes scheduled over the season. It's an exciting sport, popular with all ages, with strong participation of around one million players in the UK, and we are pleased to be able to cover it in such depth."

Karen Rothery, Commercial Director at England Netball said, "The announcement of our partnership with Sky Sports comes at a key time for netball in this country. The first season of the netball Superleague was very well received by players and spectators around the country, and we welcome the chance to bring the game to a wider audience, demonstrating how fast moving, physical and exciting netball can be."