Tony Singh to join ECB as Chief Commercial Officer

ECB today announced the appointment of BT’s Tony Singh as its new Chief Commercial Officer.

Singh, who is currently Content and Business Development Director at BT, joins the ECB’s senior management team at Lord’s and will oversee all revenue generation and its key commercial relationships as well as customer-facing activities.

His appointment will allow Sanjay Patel, the ECB’s existing Chief Commercial Officer, to focus solely on his role as Managing Director - New Competition.

He took on this additional role last year as ECB developed plans to launch a new eight-team domestic competition in 2020. The New Competition aims to engage current and new fans as part of the ECB’s priority to make the game accessible for all, as laid out in the new game wide strategy, Inspiring Generations.

Singh has played a leading role in BT TV and BT Sport’s growth over the past five years; leading the team responsible for the broadcaster’s cross-supply content deal with Sky and commercial distribution of BT Sport to other platforms, overseeing a doubling of its advertising revenues and developing a host of successful new digital initiatives.

Before joining BT in 2014, he also held senior management positions with the consumer marketing agency, Nectar, and the BBC’s Commercial Agency.

Commenting on the appointment, ECB’s Chief Executive Officer, Tom Harrison said:

“Tony brings a wealth of experience in dealing in complex commercial environments and has a proven track-record of delivering success across sports and media organisations. His experience and industry knowledge in a fast-changing media landscape will be a tremendous asset to our leadership team.

“He will have a critical role to play in our long-term plans to grow the game at every level; helping us develop new commercial partnerships and diversify the game’s revenue streams, enhance our use of data and strengthen our digital offering for the millions of cricket fans nationwide.”

On joining ECB, Tony Singh said:

“Cricket has been a lifelong passion of mine. I was immensely proud to play a part in helping the BT Sport team bring a new audience to the game following our major broadcast rights deal with Cricket Australia including last winter’s Ashes series.

“I will miss my many friends and colleagues at BT TV and BT Sport, but I’m thrilled to be joining ECB at such an exciting time for the game as it seeks to develop a new national strategy, launch a new competition and reach out to an even broader and more diverse audience.”

Commentating on his new role, Sanjay Patel said:

“As we continue to build towards the New Competition it is the right time to focus on what is a fantastic opportunity for the game. Starting in 2020, we will use the New Competition to engage existing and new fans and to present the sport in a different, exciting way alongside our other domestic competitions.

“It has been a pleasure to work with our commercial partners over the past few years and I have no doubt that Tony will do an excellent job working with our existing partners and bringing new opportunities to the game.”

Singh will take up his role in April.