Inaugural Twenty20 World Cup to reach record number of territories

Mumbai, Aug 17 (UNI) ESPN STAR Sports, Asia's No. 1 sports broadcaster, today announced broadcast rights partnerships for the first edition of the ICC World Twenty20 scheduled to take place in September 2007 in South Africa.

Covering television and new media platforms including internet and mobile, these distribution partnerships will make the games available to millions of viewers across the world. For the first time ever, the ICC event will be shown live via television in China.

These arrangements promise unmatched reach for the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 tournament, bringing the game to new markets and audiences whilst continuing to strengthen its popularity in the core cricket territories, a release issued here today stated.

In the short span of time since acquiring the rights, ESPN STAR Sports and its affiliate have already secured global coverage for the tournament with over 105 countries slated to showcase the inaugural edition of ICC World Twenty20. The coverage will be available on ESPN, STAR Sports, STAR Cricket and their affiliated television channels in various Asian countries including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and China.

In addition, ESPN STAR Sports has secured broadcast partnerships with world's leading broadcasters across globe including deals with DirecTV and ATN in North America, Caribbean Media Corporation in the Caribbean, South African Broadcasting Corporation and Super Sports in Africa, Taj TV (TEN Sports) in Middle East, Sky Television Network in New Zealand, Geo in United Kingdom and Pakistan, Premier Media Group in Australia and SuperSport in Greece, Cyprus and Mauritius.

ESPN STAR Sports managing director Jamie Davis said in the release, ''We are delighted to begin our partnership with ICC with the 2007 ICC World Twenty20. Through our own platforms in Asia and with our partners across the globe, we have been able to set new benchmarks in distribution which will pave the way for a record number of fans to witness the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 South Africa 2007 action in all its glory.'' Executive vice president (programming and marketing) Manu Sawhney added, ''We are extremely pleased with the enthusiastic response from the partners across the world for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20. In addition to these partnerships, we are currently in discussions with more broadcasters across markets and we would soon be sharing the details on them. This would further extend the reach of this tournament thus setting new standards of global distribution of cricket.'' The inaugural ICC World Twenty20 South Africa 2007 to be held in September 2007 will be the first event to be hosted by ESPN STAR Sports as a part of the eight-year agreement with ICC, the release added.

UNI