MUMBAI: Nirmal, India?s leading real estate company, has teamed up with Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools (BBFS), India?s leading youth development initiative, to launch University Football League (UFL).

UFL is a first-of-its-kind league which will not only provide a platform to young talented footballers to showcase their skills, but also provide a career path to the best players.

Through this platform possibilities will be explored of identifying talented individuals who can be given the opportunity to play professional football as well as explore professional careers in other spheres of the football industry, thus promoting human capital development in the sport.

The initiative also act as a natural extension and an integral part of ?NDTV-Nirmal Marks for Sports Campaign? to provide opportunities to students excelling in sports who are committed to obtaining a college education.

Speaking on the occasion, Nirmal Chairman and MD Dharmesh Jain said, ?Brand Nirmal has always been associated with sports initiatives. In India, football is best enjoyed as a spectator?s game, in stadiums or on television. The ever increasing fan following has inspired the country to become one of the frontline football playing nations in the world. Hence we are proud to introduce with University Football League (UFL) and Bhaichung Bhutia, to make football the next big sport in India.?

BBFS MD Bhaichung Bhutia said, ?We are truly excited to partner with Nirmal to launch UFL with International Standards in India. One of the major challenges that Indian football is facing today is lack of adequate human capital at all levels of the game. This scenario is seriously hampering the development of this beautiful game.

"However, with the intervention of various sports organizations as well as the public and private sector, there is a chance that this situation may change for the better, definitely in the long run, if not in the immediate future. With the launch of UFL, we look forward to encourage and motivate young talented footballers in India.? This university league will be modeled with the prevailing international university sports league like in USA and UK."

UFL will be played in 11-a-side format in full-size football fields under FIFA regulations. The first edition will be restricted to five major cities namely Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Kochi. In the subsequent years the editions will cover other regions and will be scaled up such that it is accessible to every interested college team in India.

Italian sports brand Diadora is UFL?s partner and this will be the global brand?s first major activation in the Indian market.

MUMBAI: The Premier League said it has awarded Super Sports Media Group the exclusive live audio visual broadcast rights for all 380 English Premier League matches per season for seasons 2013/14-2018/19 in mainland China and Macau.

"We have worked with Super Sports Media Group for the last two years and are extremely pleased to extend our partnership until 2019," said Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore.

Super Sports Media Group board member Jianguang Li said: "The Premier League has developed a profound understanding of the sports broadcasting market in China and we are very pleased to have formed this long-term partnership with them. This agreement demonstrates the Premier League?s strong commitment towards China and Chinese football fans. It will further increase the Premier League?s profile in China and give them the opportunity to make it one of their fastest growing markets."

Recently, the Premier League has awarded rights to NBC Sports Group in USA, Sportsnet & TSN in Canada, International Media Content Ltd. (IMC) in Caribbean, SuperSport in South Africa, Nigeria, and Sub-Saharan Africa and BSkyB and BT in UK.

MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Network, USA, has concluded a VoD agreement with Splendid Film, a subsidiary of Splendid Medien.

The licensing deal will allow Sony Entertainment Network?s VoD platform to show classic films such as Traffic and Gangs of New York, as well as more recent films including The Expendables and SeeFood from Splendid?s film catalogue.

Sony Entertainment Network customers can watch and download the Splendid titles individually at any time. The video-on-demand range can be accessed using various devices including PSP (PlayStation Portable), Bravia, Xperia mobile, Sony Tablet, PlayStation 3 or PC.

Enteractive, another subsidiary of Splendid Medien, is handling technical provision of the titles for the VoD platform.

?Marketing of programmes via internet platforms is becoming increasingly significant. In the Sony Entertainment Network, we have gained another very important partner for broadcasting our programmes," commented Splendid Medien CEO Andreas R. Klein.