ESPN STAR Sports (ESS), Asia’s biggest sports content provider, announced today that it has secured exclusive rights to broadcast the Barclays Premier League (BPL) on multiple platforms in 18 markets across Asia including: India, Indonesia, East Timor, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, North & South Korea, The Philippines, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and in partnership with Astro for Malaysia & Brunei.
For the first time, all 380 matches of BPL 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. This win reaffirms ESPN STAR Sports’ longstanding partnership with the Premier League stretching back more than a decade, a relationship which has seen the BPL brand enjoying massive growth since its initial broadcast on the ESS networks in 1995.
Commenting on the win, Mr. Manu Sawhney, Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports, said, “We have been showcasing the BPL in Asia 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 the region 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, localized football programming and marketing activities.”
Premier League Chief Executive, Mr. 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 very 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.”
This renewal reinforces ESS’ position as Asia’s biggest sports content provider and fans can continue to look forward to a comprehensive, engaging and unique BPL experience across all platforms through its broadcast channels, ESPN and STAR Sports, its robust and popular online offering espnstar.com and the well-established mobile brand mobileESPN.
ESS’ football offering, which varies across different markets in Asia, includes a comprehensive bouquet of world-class football content such as the FIFA World Cup 2010, UEFA Champions League, the FA Cup and the England home matches, as well as a rich bouquet of AFC football events such as the AFC Champions League, the AFF Championship and the Asian Final Qualifying Round for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In addition, ESS produces more than 1500 hours of original football programming to supplement its live football content and expand fans’ interaction with their favorite sport beyond the live games. Popular shows include: Football Focus, Castrol Football Crazy, Tiger World of Football, Goals,
Football Forecast, First Edition, Maxis Football Extra in addition to the match presentation shows Primetime Premier League, Super Sunday and Final Score.
