: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has announced that it has renewed the rights to broadcast the soccer property Barclays Premier League (BPL) on multiple platforms in India till 2013.
As a part of this arrangement, for the first time, all 380 BPL matches will be available to be shown live across multiple platforms including television, Internet and Mobile with up to 190 matches available on a VOD basis.
It has been learnt that Nimbus was the only other bidder for India. ESS says that its partnership with the Premier League stretches back more than a decade, a relationship which has seen the BPL brand enjoy massive growth in India since its initial broadcast on the ESS networks in 1995. In addition to India, ESS has also clinched exclusive rights for another 17 markets across Asia: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Maldives, Mongolia, Indonesia, The Philippines, East Timor, Cambodia, Laos, North and South Korea and in partnership with Astro for Malaysia and Brunei.
ESS MD Manu Sawhney said, “We have been showcasing the BPL in India for over a decade now and we are very pleased to further extend this association for another three seasons. This renewal underlines our commitment to football fans in India as we continue providing the most compelling content to our viewers and an excellent promotional platform for our business partners.
“We are very excited to renew our partnership with the Premier League with who we share a very strong relationship in many markets across the region. A relationship which has carried through to the fan with our coverage of live matches and continued focus towards developing the property with original, localised football programming and marketing activities and we are very pleased with our efforts in building a strong and loyal franchise of fans for Barclays Premier League in the Indian subcontinent.”
Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore said, "We have worked with ESPN Star Sports in a number of overseas territories for many years and we are very pleased to extend that partnership for seasons 2010/11 – 2012/13.
"We are proud to be working with an organisation that is world renowned for quality sports broadcasting and we have every confidence that they will continue to broadcast Barclays Premier League football in an exciting and innovative manner."
