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Tag: CVC Capital Partners

  • Volleyball World announces to stream the RuPay Prime Volleyball League globally

    Volleyball World announces to stream the RuPay Prime Volleyball League globally

    Mumbai: As season two of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 approaches, Indian volleyball is set to go global.

    Powered by A23, the RuPay Prime Volleyball League has signed a multi-year deal with the leading global streaming website, Volleyball World, as international streaming partners. Along with existing host broadcast partners, Sony Sports Network, who will be broadcasting season two of the Prime Volleyball League in the Indian subcontinent, the entire season will also be available on Volleyball World globally to showcase India’s elite talent. The Prime Volleyball League is co-owned and exclusively marketed by sports marketing firm, Baseline Ventures.

    Launched in 2021, Volleyball World, a product of a partnership between the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and CVC Capital Partners, is aimed at driving growth, innovation, and investment in volleyball around the globe with a key focus on bringing the global volleyball community together. The association with Volleyball World will offer a golden opportunity for Indian volleyball players to showcase their skills and talent across the world. It will also help the Indian fans to get access to top global volleyball events, which will further help in increasing the sport’s popularity in the country.

    Speaking on the partnership, Volleyball World CEO Finn Taylor said, “We are delighted to associate ourselves with the Prime Volleyball League. The standard of volleyball that we saw in India has made us extremely optimistic about the future of the sport. We believe volleyball fans around the world will be pleasantly surprised to see the passion for the sport in India. We see this as an enduring partnership to build the world’s most popular family sport in one of its largest markets.”

    Baseline Ventures MD & co-founder Tuhin Mishra said, “We are thrilled with our multi-year partnership with Volleyball World, which has already established itself as the go-to platform for global volleyball fans across the world. We truly believe in our country’s volleyball stars and we cannot wait for the world to appreciate the talent that is present today in the country. The partnership with the global body of volleyball, Volleyball World, will help us in accessing the best global practises in the sport, which will help in nurturing and grooming the youngsters in the country.”

    Volleyball World was launched in order to drive innovation, growth, and investment in volleyball around the globe. It has grown to become the commercial entity for the sport around the world for FIVB. Volleyball World is already working alongside top volleyball leagues and federations in the world with the goal of increasing the profile and popularity of the sport through fresh investment for the benefit of fans, players, and national federations.

    Volleyball is the fourth most popular sport globally, with more than 800 million fans and high participation across attractive markets, including Italy, Brazil, Japan, Poland, China, and the US. Volleyball was the most watched sport at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, with 2.6 billion viewer hours globally. Even during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, indoor volleyball was among the most viewed sports in India.

     

  • PE firm CVC Capital proposes to buy out ATP, WTA tennis tours

    MUMBAI: Changes may be afoot as far as broadcasting rights of professional male and female tennis calendars are concerned if reports emerging over the past two days are to be believed. Sky News first reported that Luxembourg headquartered private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is in unconfirmed talks with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to buy a 15 per cent stake into a new entity One Tennis which will combine their two itineraries. It is willing to serve a cool $600 million for the privilege of managing the broadcasting rights to the two tours, as well as selling data rights to gambling companies.

    CVC Capital has discussed leaving the running of the two sports to the two associations; all it wants is that the women and men’s tournaments should have a unified calendar (meaning female and male tennis players should play at the same competitions) – just like they do in the Grand Slam championships – Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open, and the French Open. The latter four contests are ruled by a different governing body.

    The private equity firm believes it can extract greater value than both ATP and WTA are doing currently by glamourising the tours, upping prize money, improving broadcast production quality, and setting up a global digital platform for tennis fans.

    Reuters reported on 8 June that the two associations had issued a joint statement which said that they are “continually looking for ways to bring the sport closer together to provide an enhanced experience for fans, players and tournaments.”

    CVC Capital is no stranger to managing sports; it had been the owner of the F1 from 2006 to 2017 when it sold it to John Malone’s Liberty Media. Over that period, it squeezed out billions of dollars in revenue from the racing sport; in the process, it helped turn around its fortunes. CVC Capital has recently invested in the six nations Rugby and the International Volleyball Federation.

    CVC is proposing that ATP Media (ATP’s existing sales and broadcasting arm) will be absorbed into the new entity with the former’s CEO Mark Webster leading One Tennis. Most of the broadcast rights to the ATP Tours for India lie with the ATP’s tennistv.com, with rights to the ATP 250s being shared by it with Discovery. Prior to Discovery, Sony Pictures Sports Network was the rights holder from 2015 to 2020. Hardcore tennis fans can watch matches online at tennistv.com with the annual subscription package running at $119.9.

    But apparently, a lot more could be done to popularise tennis and the tours among younger audiences, commentators and critics have averred. Tennis has alienated young tennis buffs as they have been drawn to other sports that have more excitement and entertainment. Statistics have shown that the tennis fan is beginning to age and to get back in the game, the sports need a rejuvenation.

    The ATP and WTA boards are expected to meet later this month on the proposal. Their decision will make it clear whether they believe that CVC Capital can be that white knight – who will inject some life into the sport.