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Tag: Star Sports

  • U-Mumba to clash against Jaipur Pink Panthers in Pro Kabaddi League finale

    U-Mumba to clash against Jaipur Pink Panthers in Pro Kabaddi League finale

    MUMBAI: As many as 218 million viewers tuned into the Star Sports Pro-Kabaddi Leagues’ opening game. The rustic, ancient and Indian contact sport game has finally found its due respect from Indian audiences and after a month of entertaining Indian audiences in a never seen before avatar, the finals are here.

     

     

    The Leagues’ two giants; U –Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers will clash in the finals that will take place at the National Sports Club of India in Mumbai on 31 August at 7:45 pm. Ironically, it was these two teams that had kicked off the tournament wherein the Ronnie Screwvala owned U-Mumba team won over the Abhishek Bachchan owned Jaipur franchise at the very same stadium.

     

     

    Hoarding around the city and posts on social media have been announcing the big finale. The broadcast of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi is on Star Sports 2, Star Gold and starsports.com.

     

    In its glory days, the sport enjoyed a rich heritage where it was practiced during festivals and after harvest as a matter of celebration. Star’s endeavour to restore that festive air around Kabaddi and set it in today’s context with world-class production, modern indoor stadiums, mat surface courts, jazzy music along with celebrity engagement to make it more appealing to the youth seems to have truly worked its charm. 

     

  • Hero ISL international draft sees buys worth Rs 16 crore

    Hero ISL international draft sees buys worth Rs 16 crore

    MUMBAI: When a sport needs to be grown, money needs to be spent. And in keeping with this, Hero MotoCorp Indian Super League (ISL) saw close to Rs 16 crore being spent on international players who were a part of the draft and were picked by eight teams in seven rounds.

     

    Each team was given the first slot to pick their players as the rounds progressed. The football league will be played from 12 October 2014 to 20 December 2014.

     

    Team Goa proved to be the most generous as it spent Rs 2.46 crore on seven players. Team Chennai (which is the new team introduced in the ISL after Team Bengaluru backed out) shelled Rs 2.34 crore on its seven players. Next in line was Atletico de Kolkata that selected six players for Rs 2.17 crore. Team Mumbai FC picked seven players for Rs 2.10 crore. Kerala Blasters decided to spend Rs 1.98 crore on its seven international players. Pune FC bagged five players for Rs 1.75 crore. Tying at the last spot were teams Delhi Dynamos and North East United that spent Rs 1.62 crore each on their respective five players.

     

    IMG Global football vice president Andy Knee said, “The teams are very happy with the international players they have picked up. We are quite satisfied with the quality of football we have introduced here in India.”

     

    A total of 56 international players, 49 from today’s draft and seven being contracted by the clubs directly, were drafted among the eight ISL clubs. Earlier, in July 2014 the clubs had selected 112 Indian players to complete the domestic players’ mandate. “The 49 players who went into the draft today have had close to 9000 games in between them,” added Knee. “It only speaks about the experience and the competition they will bring into the Hero Indian Super League,” he maintained.

     

    All India Football Federation general secretary Kushal Das said, “Indian football needs a new dose of adrenaline. We are extremely excited and hope the Indian Super League will provide the dose of much-needed visibility to Indian football. The focus at present is on youth development and grassroots which forms the base of the pyramid. But at the same time, the dose of commerce stays quintessential at the top of the pyramid. Both are interlinked to each other,” he stated. “We hope ISL will be the game changer for Indian football,” added Das.

     

    For Football Sports Development CEO Anupam Dutta, the international player draft has marked an important milestone in the Indian football. “A league’s success depends on the clubs and we are happy to have equally excited and committed partners in this journey. And against the backdrop of the international player draft, let’s not forget that we have a very good set of Indian players in the league as well,” he opined.

     

    Star Sports business head Nitin Kukreja commented, “We plan to unleash a sporting revolution in India. It’s not just cricket, we plan to take football, kabaddi and other sports to greater heights too in India.”

     

    Following are the names of the different teams along with their compositions:

     

    FC Pune City – Bruno Cirillo, Emanuele Belardi, Ivan Bolado Palacios, Saidou Mady Panandetiguiri, Omar Andres Rodriguez Martinez, Andres Felipe Gonzalez Ramirez, Park Kwang-IL.

     

    Atletico de Kolkata – Borja Fernandes, Jofre Mateu Gonzalez, Jose Miguel Gonzalez Rey, Arnal Llibert Conde Carbo, Sylvain Monsoreau, Jakub Podaný, Apoula Edima Edel Bete.

     

    Kerala Blasters – Michael Chopra, Iain Hume, Victor Herrero Forcada, Erwin Spitzner, Pedro Adriano Veloso Gusm?o, Cedric Hengbart, Raphael Romey.

     

    Mumbai City FC – Diego Fernando, Jan Stohanzl, Francisco Javier Fernandez Luque, Pavel CmovS, Johann Letzelter, Andre Matos Dias Pereira, Ilias Pollalis.

     

    North East United – Isaac Chansa, Cornell Glen, Massamba Lo Sambou, Do Dong-Hyun, Guilherme Felipe de Castro, TomaS Josl, Luis Alfredo Yanes Padilla.

     

    Team Chennai – Bernard Mendy, Cristian Hidalgo Gonzalez, Gennaro Bracigliano, Bojan Djordjic, Bruno Augusto Pelissari de Lima, Jairo Andres Suarez Carvajal, Eduardo Silva Lerma.

     

    Team Goa – Miroslav SlepiCka. Jan Seda, Bruno Filipe Tavares Pinheiro, Youness Bengelloun, Miguel Bruno Pereira Herlein, Gregory Arnolin, Edgar Carvalho Figueira Marcelino.

     

    Delhi Dynamos – Mads Junker, Morten Skoubo, Bruno Herrero Arias, Gustavo Marmentini dos Santos, Marek Cech, Pavel EliaS, Henrique Dinis Oliveira Dias.

     

    Click here for the international players pool list

     

  • ISL central player draft to be held on 21 August

    ISL central player draft to be held on 21 August

    MUMBAI: The Hero MotoCorp Indian Super League (ISL) will on 21 August have its central player draft pool where 49 international players will be picked up by the eight franchises.

     

    The comprehensive list released earlier has both experienced and upcoming talent from around the globe. The 49 international players represent a number of countries like Spain, France, Czech Republic, Brazil, Portugal, Colombia, South Korea, Argentina, Canada, Serbia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, England, Greece and Cameroon. 

     

    The League promoted by IMG-Reliance, Star Sports and AIFF has a total of 56 international players, of which 49 will be picked through the international player draft which will be held tomorrow. The other seven have already been contracted by four franchises: Delhi Dynamos FC, Pune City FC, NorthEast United FC and Atletico de Kolkata. Teams have the provision of signing a maximum of two international players on their own. 

     

    Earlier, the high octane domestic player draft which was held on 22-23 July saw Rs 24 crore being spent by teams for purchasing the players of their choice.

  • Twitter invites football fans to follow Premier League teams

    Twitter invites football fans to follow Premier League teams

    MUMBAI: The concluded FIFA World Cup saw 672 million tweets from around the globe being shared. Whilst memories of the World Cup begin to fade, the Premier League springs back into action today as Manchester United host Swansea City in the first match of the 2014-2015 season.

     

    With all 20 Premier League teams on Twitter, following each team will help fans to get closer to the action throughout the upcoming year. For India specific updates, fans can look out for updates from broadcaster Star Sport India’s Twitter handle.

     

    Arsenal is the most followed team in the premier league with 4.24 million followers followed closely by Chelsea football club with 4.18 million followers, Liverpool FC and Manchester United FC with 3 million followers each. The fifth in the list was Manchester City with 1.92 million followers.

     

    More than 60 per cent of premier league players are now on Twitter as well as two managers; Ronald Koeman of Southampton and Gary Monk of Swansea.

     

    Tottenham will begin the new season with 76 per cent of their first-team squad on Twitter – the highest of any Premier League team. However with the transfer window open until 1 September, it remains to be seen whether they will maintain that position into the autumn.

     

    Earlier this year, research from global Web Index highlighted that 57 per cent of Twitter football lovers in India said that football news breaks fastest on Twitter. Throughout the season, many of the best-known voices within the game tweet their observations and opinions, directly engaging with fans in real-time.

  • Fox Sports rebranded across Asia

    Fox Sports rebranded across Asia

    MUMBAI: Fox International Channels (FIC), the Asian pay-TV network, revealed that it will implement a wide-scale upgrade to its Fox Sports Asia network, effective August 15. It also announced new names for its Asian region channels, except India.

     

    The network rebranded its portfolio of channels, which currently are Fox Sports, Fox Sports Plus HD and Star Sports to ‘Fox Sports’, ‘Fox Sports 2’ and ‘Fox Sports 3’ respectively. This does not include the Star Sports brand in India.

     

    ‘Fox Sports’ will be the flagship channel, airing the most popular sporting events for the local audience, namely La Liga soccer matches, Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), tennis Grand Slam semifinals and finals and the main Formula One races.

     

    Star Sports which will now be Fox Sports 2, will provide coverage of golf majors, European and Asian soccer league, Major League Baseball (MLB), Indian Badminton League (IBL) and International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) events.

     

    While, Fox Sports Plus HD rebranded as Fox Sports 3 will air adrenaline sports, such as motor sports, combat and extreme sports like F1, MotoGP, One FC and Extreme Games Asia.

     

    Fox Sports News and Fox Football channel HD will remain unchanged, while Fox Sports Play and Fox Sports Mobile will continue to be the network’s non-linear play with additional fitness and yoga content.

     

    The change takes effect in all territories across Asia where Fox Sports network channels are available.

     

    Late last year, News Corp had revamped the Star Sports bunch of channels in India as Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 3, Star Sports 4, Star Sports HD1 and Star Sports HD2.

  • Fevicol rides on the Kabbadi wagon

    Fevicol rides on the Kabbadi wagon

    MUMBAI: Fevicol, one of the leading adhesive brands in Asia, has integrated with Pro Kabbadi League for an on-air and on-ground integration. The integration will go on till 31 August.

     

    Pidilite Industries  CMO Anil Jayaraj said, “Kabbadi is a sport integral to India’s culture. The game has seen resurrection as a mainstream sport through Pro Kabbadi League. Kabbadi is an ideal game for Fevicol to associate considering the fact that it involves strong holds, tackles and bonds which is in line with the brand’s messaging of strong bonding.”

     

    Madison Media Sigma, COO Vanita Keswani  said, “PKL’s viewership data are encouraging and proves the fact that the game is finding its feet amongst Indian viewers. It saw an astounding 218 million viewers tuning into Pro-Kabaddi League’s opening games.”

     

    Integration will involve on-air animated pushbacks and aston bands on Star Sports featuring ‘Fevicol ki Pakkad, Chootegi Nahin’ during live matches when a tackle results in entrapment of the raider. The classic Fevicol TVC ‘Haisha ad’ will be aired during matches on Star Sports and Star Gold. The brand will also communicate onground through messaging on LED screens at venues.

  • DDB MudraMax assigned franchise and venue management for Bengal Warriors

    DDB MudraMax assigned franchise and venue management for Bengal Warriors

    MUMBAI: Taking everyone by surprise, the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League has caught people’s fancy. And to keep the momentum going Big Bazaar’s Pro Kabaddi League team, Bengal Warriors, has entrusted DDB MudraMax with the complete franchise management.

     

    As the franchise management partner, DDB MudraMax spearheads the marketing communication and consulting on brand strategy and direction. With a mix of marketing touch points, the campaign communication has seen a burst in OOH, media, print, direct marketing, events, all integrated via digital platforms.

     

    The agency is also managing the venue for all the games that were held in the Netaji Indoor Stadium, home ground for the Bengal Warriors.  The last match at this venue was held on Saturday, 2 August, 2014.

     

    Future Group president Sandip Tarkas & Bengal Warriors CEO said, “Kabaddi is potentially the second biggest idea that India can export to the world after Yoga. It is an absolutely amazing sport that is played by really fit and skillful players, and the idea, like Yoga, is very Indian at the core. Frugal, simple, environment blended and works for an overall development of mind and body. Indian-ness is one of the core values of Future Group and we immediately consented to associate with the sport.”

     

    He added, “When the idea of Pro Kabaddi League was born. The choice of Kolkata was also a natural one, as Future Group does enjoy a special bond with Kolkata, the group’s first stores in both Pantaloons and Big Bazaar having been born here. Having done that, managing a sports event at this scale needs some special skills and we found in DDB MudraMax a willing partner who not just shared our enthusiasm for the sport but also had the requisite skills and was willing to invest. Our commitment to developing the sport in West Bengal also manifests itself in the recently concluded Junior Kabaddi League that was organised under the aegis of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India’s (AKFI) West Bengal Unit.”

     

    DDB MudraMax president Mandeep Malhotra said, “The Pro Kabaddi League is a rebirth to the best touch sport of our country, and it surely got me running for my breath. So when we got the opportunity, we grabbed it! My team and I have been on ground at the Netaji Stadium, for every single match, and it’s great to see how this sport has come back to life! I am proud of this association as an Indian and as a participant on building a great team sport. We are all one team and are working towards making Bengal Warriors the most successful franchise on and off the field in the Pro Kabaddi League.”

  • Star cannot disconnect HD signals to Hathway till next hearing: TDSAT

    Star cannot disconnect HD signals to Hathway till next hearing: TDSAT

    MUMBAI: The order for the Hathway versus Star India case puts things in order. The Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal’s (TDSAT) interim order states that as per an earlier order issued, multi system operator (MSO) Hathway Cable & Datacom has provided Star India with the subscriber management system (SMS) report for the period April to June 2014. Till the case is resolved, the Tribunal has carved out an interim financial measure to settle the dispute regarding Star’s entertainment and sports channels.

     

    Just as Star and Hathway had agreed to enter into a RIO deal for its sports channels, the broadcaster moved the TDSAT again claiming that Hathway had not made any payments after expiry of the earlier agreement between the MSO and MediaPro (which was then handling Star channels).

     

    Star had sent out disconnection notices against Hathway for its entertainment channels on grounds of nonpayment of dues. During the hearing, Star’s contended that since the MSO had taken its sports channels on RIO, the same must be followed for its entertainment channels without partiality. ‘Hathway cannot be permitted to indulge in duality and take some of Star’s channels on RIO terms and some other channels on negotiated terms; again Hathway cannot take the same channels in different parts of the country on different terms,’ claimed Star.

     

    Post this, the MSO said that it is willing to take its entertainment and sports channels at a cost per subscriber (CPS) basis of Rs 22 while Star asked for Rs 31. TDSAT as an interim measure has said that taking the mean of the two would be ideal. Therefore, from 1 August, Star will raise invoices on Hathway for monthly subscription fees for both genre channels at Rs 27 CPS basis.

     

    “It will be open to Star to take into account each and every set top box by means of which any Star channel is viewable. Hathway shall put any sports channels of Star in any of its bouquet as it may deem appropriate,” states the TDSAT order.

     

    Meanwhile for the period April to July, TDSAT has given permission to Star to raise invoices for its entertainment channels at the rate of Rs 23 CPS basis in the DAS areas of Mumbai and Delhi, where the agreement ended on 30 April 2014 and DAS areas of Kolkata and DAS II areas where the agreement came to an end on 31 March 2014. For the sports channels, invoices will be raised on RIO basis. The total of this, Rs 26.5 crore has been paid by Hathway on 30 July.

     

    These arrangements have been made for Star’s SD channels. Directions on its HD channels will be made in the next hearing, which is on 11 August and till then the broadcaster has been told not to disconnect its HD signals to Hathway.

     

    In the end, TDSAT makes it clear that this is only an interim arrangement as per current circumstances and will not operate as a precedent for any other case or parties.

  • Star Sports’ Pro Kabaddi League rakes in ratings

    Star Sports’ Pro Kabaddi League rakes in ratings

    MUMBAI: Introducing India and the world to an ancient Indian game of Kabaddi is Star Sports with its Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). The eight city franchise based league that began on 26 July seems to have created quite a buzz around it.

    According to latest TAM data provided by the channel, the opening night received 22 million TV viewers, on both Star Sports and Star Gold. This data, when extrapolated to All India Universe, according to standard industry conversions, show that over 66 million Indians have watched the game, claims the channel.

    “This is 10 times higher than that witnessed in India during the opening match between Brazil and Croatia of the recently concluded FIFA World Cup which reached 2.1 million viewers (extrapolated 6.6 million viewers),” says the channel.

    On Twitter, Star says that it had generated such an extensive conversation line that it was trending for nearly two days. Within 12 hours of the commencement of the League, PKL had received nearly 140 million impressions on Twitter and a significant number on Facebook activity. This was driven by celebrities/owners of teams including Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar etc.

    The Kabaddi mania even spread to the Amul girl by her positive take on PKL. Over 90 per cent of the reactions regarding PKL were positive, says the broadcaster. Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “We are very excited about Kabaddi but these are early days. At Star we believe in building content on a long term basis and our positions and moods don’t swing based on day one ratings! We strongly believe in the potential of Kabaddi and that is the reason we are working so hard to build it.”

     

  • Police case filed against two Hathway-linked LCOs in Kolkata for illegally carrying Star Sports 1 signals

    Police case filed against two Hathway-linked LCOs in Kolkata for illegally carrying Star Sports 1 signals

    NEW DELHI: Kolkata police has registered a first information report (FIR) against two local cable operators (LCOs) Akash Darpan and Titli Cable Service, both linked to multi system operator Hathway Cable and Datacom’s network for illegally re-transmitting signals of Star Sports1 on unencrypted frequencies.

      

    The FIR follows the raids conducted by the Kolkata police after a complaint was filed by Star on 22 July against ‘the deliberate illegal acts of Hathway.’

     

    Acting on the complaint, the police raided the control rooms of the LCOs and found that the signals of Star Sports 1 were being retransmitted in unencrypted mode on LCN No. 872 meant for local channels. The police registered an FIR No. 649/14 dated 22 July 2014 against Hathway and the two LCOs under sections 120-B/409 IPC and 37/51/63/65/69 Copyright Act.

     

    Star said in a press release that ‘in order to mislead and deceive it, Hathway has adopted an unlawful methodology whereby Hathway’s electronic programming guide (EPG) displays to the subscribers that the said TV channel is available on an a-la-carte basis. However, the said channel is available and enjoyed by Hathway subscribers even without opting for the said TV channel on an a-la-carte basis by the unlawful placement of the TV channel in unencrypted frequencies/forms.’

     

    The broadcaster also claims that because of the unlawful placement of the channel, the subscriber base of Star Sports1 is not captured on the SMS and Cable Access System of Hathway.  Consequently, the MSO does not pay any license/subscription fee, though the channel is available and viewed by the Hathway subscribers.

     

    Star investigated the issue and video recorded the unencrypted retransmission by Hathway on 19 July on being informed of the illegal retransmission. 

     

    Even earlier, Hathway had illegally carried Star Sports channels on unencrypted frequencies in the DAS notified city of Mumbai in gross violation of the provisions of sections 51 & 63 of the Copyright Act, the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act and the applicable Regulations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. A legal notice on 27 February 2014 was issued by Star Sports India in this regard.