MUMBAI: South Asia’s sports broadcaster Ten Sports Network has strengthened its football portfolio with the acquisition of two English football properties in the Capital One Cup and the Sky Bet football league from leading sports media rights agency, MP & Silva.
Both events kick off this weekend and the additions bolster its line up of football content, which includes the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, Copa Del Rey and French League.
Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi said “English Football is very well followed in the Indian Subcontinent and by acquiring these properties we will be showcasing all the best English football clubs contest in a more exciting knockout format in the Capital One Cup. With the Sky Bet Football League, we will be able to offer football fans in the Indian subcontinent a different flavor of English Football. We are delighted to work closely with MP & Silva to build our content offering and grow our audience, and we thank the Football League for their support and look forward to invest in and build these competitions.”
The football leagues chief executive Shaun Harvey commented “The Football League are pleased to have secured additional coverage on Ten Sports, one of India’s most prestigious networks, alongside a roster of other blue chip sports properties. India is a market where interest in football has grown exponentially in recent years, and as such this new deal represents a big boost as we continue to expand our international reach, via our fruitful partnership with MP & Silva.”
As part of the deal with MP & Silva, Ten Sports Network has also acquired rights to ‘Brazil World Tour’ featuring friendly matches played by the Brazilian national football team in 2014. Ten Sports Network will showcase Brazil as they aim to re-build their team after its world cup campaign. Fans can look forward to exciting ties against Messi from Argentina and world cup star James Rodriguez of Columbia.
The broadcaster will show these football properties to its 140 million households across the Indian sub-continent. Matches will also be available for live streaming at www.tensports.com.
The Capital One Cup features participation from all Barclays Premier League sides including Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and current champions Manchester City. A total of 92 teams participate in this prestigious cup competition each year in an exciting knockout format with the finals being played at the Wembley stadium in London. Liverpool is the most successful team in this competition with a total of eight titles while Manchester United and Chelsea have four titles each.
The Sky Bet football league has 72 clubs in all across three divisions – The Championship, League one and League two. Each year three teams from the championship get promoted to the Barclays Premier League and three teams from the BPL are relegated to the championship. There is a fierce fan following for clubs in the football league, with many calling the football league the true account of English Football as it has club representation from all parts of England. Ten Sports network will broadcast a total of 90 matches per season from the football League.
