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IMG Reliance has signed a deal with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) to help develop the sport in the country.

IMG Reliance – a joint venture between sports marketing giant IMG Worldwide and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries – will work with all levels of basketball in India, from grassroots to professional.

As part of the agreement, the BFI has granted IMG Reliance commercial rights relating to basketball in India, including sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting, merchandising, film, video and data, intellectual property, franchising and new league rights.

IMG Reliance is likely to help create a professional basketball league in India which will see players from around the world competing alongside Indian players – much like the Chinese Basketball League (CBL).

Harish Sharma, general secretary of the BFI, said: “It is an important development in the history of basketball in the country. This is a giant step towards our stated vision of making basketball a much-watched and popular sport in the country.

“We are confident that IMG Reliance will play a significant part in realising this vision with a comprehensive program, involving development of a loyal fan base, as well as development of talent at an early stage. We are working towards kicking off the leagues at the onset of the sporting calendar in the country.”

Andrew Wildblood, executive vice-president of IMG, added: “The game of basketball is one of the most popular spectator sports across the world. With the active support and participation from the Basketball Federation of India, we will work to take the sport to the next level.

“IMG Reliance will leverage IMG’s unparalleled experience of developing sporting leagues and talent development to make basketball in India a commercially exciting sporting proposition with a large fan base.

“The convergence of sport and entertainment has been successfully demonstrated over the past several years in India. We strongly believe there is room for multiple commercially successful professional sports in India.

“We further believe that basketball has all the necessary ingredients to take a significant share of the growing professional sports market in the country and to have great appeal for the Indian consumer.”