New Delhi, Delhi, India, Tuesday, July 20, 2010 -- (Business Wire India)



Eurosport announced today it has signed an exclusive three-year deal with Asia’s biggest sports content provider, ESPN STAR Sports, to broadcast the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 tournament in Pan-Europe and the United Kingdom.

The new rights deal includes rights to broadcast the tournaments on-air and online, with featured matches appearing exclusively on the Eurosport Player, the channel’s online subscription player service. Cricket fans with iPhones and iPads can also access the tournament on the move in the UK via the Eurosport Player application, which simulcasts British Eurosport and Eurosport 2.

Said Manu Sawhney, ESPN STAR Sports’ Managing Director: “We are very pleased to have such an enthusiastic partner in the Eurosport Group, especially with their innovative efforts to showcase this event online in addition to broadcasting it on-air. As the World Championship of top T20 teams from various countries, the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 continues to enjoy a strong following across Europe and we’re committed to further build on that popularity along with the Eurosport Group.”

Arnaud Simon, Broadcast Director of Eurosport and Eurosport 2, said: “We are thrilled to bring fans all the excitement of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament for the next three years. This fast-paced event will be showcased on British Eurosport in the UK and on Eurosport 2 throughout the rest of Europe. We are confident that Eurosport’s top-notch pan-European coverage will attract new enthusiasts to the already popular tournament.”

David Kerr, Director of British Eurosport, adds: “As a new, emerging international tournament the Champions League Twenty20 fits perfectly with British Eurosport’s portfolio of events. The event boasts excellent production values, dramatic matches and the best international teams so I am positive this is an event that will grow in importance and profile in the coming years and we are excited about being part of that evolution.”

The Champions League Twenty20 made an impressive debut on Eurosport in October 2009 and this year will feature the top T20 teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and the West Indies, all playing for a multi-million dollar prize fund. The 2010 edition of the tournament will take place in South Africa from 10th – 26th September and will feature 23 matches with the tournament format. The participating teams include:

• Chennai Super Kings (DLF Indian Premier League – India)
• Mumbai Indians (DLF Indian Premier League – India)
• Royal Challengers Bangalore (DLF Indian Premier League – India)
• Victorian Bushrangers (KFC Twenty20 Big Bash – Australia)
• South Australian Redbacks (KFC Twenty20 Big Bash – Australia)
• Warriors (Standard Bank Pro 20 Series – South Africa)
• Highveld Lions (Standard Bank Pro 20 Series – South Africa)
• Central Stags (HRV Cup Twenty20 – New Zealand)
• Wayamba Elevens (Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Cup – Sri Lanka)
• TBC (West Indies Domestic Twenty20 Champions)

Of the nine teams already qualified, just three will be returning from the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2009 - Royal Challengers Bangalore (India), Victorian Bushrangers (Australia) and Wayamba Elevens (Sri Lanka).

The Champions League T20 marks the grand finale of the T20 cricket with T20 champion teams from various countries across the world battle for the ultimate honor and it features the most illustrious names in the game of cricket such as Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mahela Jayawardene, Dale Steyn, Rahul Dravid, Shaun Tait, Jean-Paul Duminy, Ajantha Mendis, Anil Kumble, Matthew Hayden, Ross Taylor, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Jacob Oram, Malinga Bandara, Doug Bollinger, Dwayne Bravo, Shahid Afridi, Michael Hussey & David Hussey and Sanath Jayasuriya.

ESPN STAR Sports is the global television production partner and exclusive commercial rights partner for the Champions League T20 till 2018.


About the Airtel Champions League Twenty20

An initiative of three founding members – the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa - the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 is a platform where the world’s best domestic teams get the opportunity to pit their cricketing skills against each other. ESPN STAR Sports is the commercial rights holders for Champions League Twenty20 for a period of 10 years. The 2010 edition of the tournament will take place in South Africa from 10th – 26th September.

About ESPN STAR Sports

ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world’s leading cable and satellite broadcasters. As Asia's definitive and complete sports broadcaster and content provider, ESPN STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its ultimate parent companies – Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) – to deliver a diverse array of international and regional sports to viewers via its encrypted pay-TV services.

ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier live sports from around the globe 24 hours a day to a cumulative reach of over 300 million viewers in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports has 19 networks covering 24 countries, each localised to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN SEA, ESPN China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN SEA 2, ESPN Taiwan, MBC-ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports SEA, STAR Sports SEA 2, STAR Sports Taiwan, STAR Cricket, ESPNEWS and ESPN HD.

On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia. ESPN STAR Sports aims to reach consumers at any time, any place and through all new media platforms, both internet and mobile. The multi-lingual, online platforms, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw interact with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions. Developed for the sports fan that is constantly on the move, mobileESPN enables the serious sports fan to follow their favourite sports more closely than ever before with a combination of specially produced video news clips, in-depth news coverage and analysis.

About Eurosport Group

The Eurosport Group is Europe's leading sports entertainment group. Eurosport, the n°1 pan-European TV channel, is broadcast in 20 languages reaching 118 million homes and 240 million viewers across 59 countries. Eurosport HD is the high definition simulcast of Eurosport. Eurosport 2, the new generation sports channel, broadcasts to 40 million households in 14 languages across 46 countries. Eurosport 2 HD was launched in August 2009. Eurosport Asia-Pacific reaches 14 countries in the region. Eurosportnews provides up-to-date sports TV news transmitted worldwide. Online, Eurosport has a network of dedicated sports websites in 10 different languages, including recently launched Eurosport Arabia reaching sports fans in the MENA region and award-nominated eurosport.yahoo.com. Eurosport is ranked as Europe's N°1 online sports destination and is visited by over 8 million unique users per month (comScore). Eurosport Mobile offers Live streaming, mobile sites and mobile applications in 9 languages providing LIVE sports news and results. Eurosport Events is the group's expert division in the organisation, management and promotion of international sporting events. For more information, please visit www.eurosportcorporate.com