MUMBAI: Ten Sports, one of the sports broadcasters in South Asia, has extended the broadcast rights for the premium football competitions: UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League for the next cycle of three seasons starting 2015-16.
Ten Sports is also the current broadcast rights holder for the properties and has been airing these premier football competitions since 2006-07. “UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League rights had become the most key football property up for acquisition and Ten Sports Network reaffirms its commitment to promoting quality football through this major acquisition after beating other rival broadcasters to secure these rights,” the channel said through a statement.
The new deal between UEFA and Ten Sports beginning from the 2015-16 season covers exclusive broadcast rights for the Indian subcontinent which includes India, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan. Ten Sports will broadcast these properties across all its platforms including premium HD offerings and live streaming of matches on tensports.com.
The channel will broadcast 145 matches of UEFA Champions League and 205 matches of UEFA Europa League every season. Apart from these matches, it will also broadcast the annual UEFA Super Cup, the curtain raiser at the beginning of the European season played between the winners of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
“We are delighted to extend our partnership with UEFA and have the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League on the Ten Sports Network. Over the last decade, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League have found a home in the Indian subcontinent at Ten Sports. We thank UEFA and team for all their support and hope to continue and build on the strong and mutually beneficial relationship we have with them. Over the next four seasons we will continue to build on the quality programming we offer around these marquee properties and strive to innovate to increase viewership and audience interest and engagement around these properties,” said Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi.
Widely considered as the toughest and most competitive football competition in the world, only the best teams from the top European Leagues make it to the UEFA Champions League. Real Madrid is the most successful team in this competition with 10 titles, the most recent being the current final in May 2014 where the team achieved the unprecedented ‘La Decima’. Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Manchester United, Ajax, AC Milan, Liverpool are some of the other teams who have enjoyed success in this competition.
TEN Sports Network reaches over 140 million households across the Indian sub-continent. The network has a bouquet of premium football properties from across the globe including UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Copa Del Rey, French League, A-League, Capital One Cup, German Cup, Copa Italia, Skybet Championship and Club TV programming of leading European Clubs.
