Rs 1,200 crore: That's the minimum amount riding on the Cricket World Cup that begins on February 19. And, official broadcaster ESPN Start Sports is keen on making the most ofcricket fever, CNBC-TV18's Sweta Sriram and Nikita Rana report.
It has been called a 'jewel' in ESPN Star's crown, and why not? The Cricket World Cup 2011 is the main event in the host of ICC events between 2007 and 2015. And, ESS has picked up exclusive global broadcast and marketing rights to all of these for a whopping USD 1.1 billion.
It has been called a 'jewel' in ESPN Star's crown, and why not? The Cricket World Cup 2011 is the main event in the host of ICC events between 2007 and 2015. And, ESS has picked up exclusive global broadcast and marketing rights to all of these for a whopping USD 1.1 billion.
ESS is positive that the world cup will make both sponsors and cricket fans happy. It has added one new associate sponsor—Reliance Broadband—to the existing list of 8, and has roped in 45 other brands to pick up spots.
With all this money flowing in, the broadcaster is pulling out all three stops to ensure top broadcast quality.
Manu Sawhney, MD, ESPN Star Sports Asia, said, “The planning for this has been going on for the last two years. We'll be covering all the 49 games live on StarCricket and ESPN. And we'll be simultaneously broadcasting 37 matches in Hindi on Star Sports. In terms of sheer scale, the production comprises of about 500 people. We are approximately looking at 2,000 domestic flights, 350 international flights, approx 13,000 room nights and 19 venues across 3 countries.”
In 2009, the T20 World Cup's thunder was stolen by the IPL, but not this time. With the ICC World Cup playing out before the IPL season begins, ESS is certain everyone will get their money's worth.
“It is a positive to have the World Cup prior to that (IPL) because the season begins then and you are able to capture the market share and the consumer mind space which is available. That is a big positive which I am sure has influenced the decision of the various sponsors,” Sawhney added.
Non-TV set broadcasting has also raked in the moolah this time. Vodafone has picked up the rights for exclusive mobile streaming on 3G and 10 sponsors have signed on for live streaming of the matches on espnstar.com, across 62 countries. All in all, ESS is all padded up, and ready to take guard.
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