ESPN Star Sports has bagged the worldwide rights for the telecast of the 8th Asia Cup cricket tournament to be played in Sri Lanka.
According to sports broadcasting industry sources, the deal is valued at $10 million.
Asia Cup, which will be played between India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, will be held from 16 July to 2 August this year.
"Asia Cup comes to the fans of the game after a long gap, making it an eagerly awaited tournament. We also believe that the friendly telecast times and the fact that nine out of the thirteen games will be played in floodlights will add to the excitement and viewing convenience," said R C Venkateish, managing director, ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd.
It will be interesting to watch how ESPN Star Sports will handle the pressure from Prasar Bharati and the government to share the telecast feed of India matches with Doordarshan.
It may be recalled that in the recently concluded India-Pakistan cricket series, Prasar Bharati and Ten Sports had taken the legal route settle the issue of sharing telecast rights.
"There is no conflict. We are more than willing to discuss with Doordarshan on how to take it forward. Since 1995, we have shown many matches with Doordarshan. We have an excellent relationship," Venkateish said.
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