|
MUMBAI:
Neo Sports Plus announced an agreement with the International
Tennis Federation (ITF) for broadcasting Indian matches and
select other World Group matches of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas
and the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas in India subcontinent for
four years - 2008 to 2011.
Additionally,
Neo Sports also announced another acquisition of the television
rights to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour for four years for the
period 2008 to 2011. Neo Sports will be the exclusive broadcast
partner for all top events on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in
the Indian subcontinent for the four seasons - 2008 to 2011.
The live telecast of Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tennis will commence
on Neo Sports Plus from the 9 February 2008.
This
season of the Fed Cup and Davis Cup will have Indian stalwarts
like Sania Mirza, Leander Paes, Karan Rastogi, Divij Sharan,
Rohan Bopanna, among others. The top levels of Fed Cup and
Davis cup begin with Israel v Russia featuring Maria Sharapova,
and Russia v Serbia featuring Novak Djokovic, amongst others.
The Davis Cup match will take place from 8 February till 10
February.
Commenting
on the deal, Neo Sports Broadcast EVP of strategy and business
development Prasana Krishnan said, "We are truly excited
to bring tennis lovers in India the best of the Fed Cup by
BNP Paribas and Davis Cup by BNP Paribas matches for the next
four years."
Below
the World Group, the Fed Cup nations compete in Zonal groups,
which are split into three zones: Asia/ Oceania, the Americas
and Europe/Africa. In each zone, there are two groups, Group
I being the higher and Group II being the lower. Teams have
to win through the Zonal Group matches to progress to the
World Group. The Fed Cup title Sponsor is BNP Paribas.
The
pinnacle of the annual Davis Cup competition is the World
Group. Sixteen nations are drawn against each other in a knock-out
format leading up to the Davis Cup Final. Below the World
Group, there are three regional zones, Euro/Africa, the Americas
and Asia/ Oceania. Each Zone has Group I, II, III and IV.
The aim for each team is to move up group by group to enter
the World Group and ultimately become the Davis Cup champion.
Each tie consists of five matches, four singles and one doubles
match, played over three days.
In
addition to winning the broadcast rights, Neo Sports Plus
will present one-hour highlight programmes after each round
of the Davis Cup and Fed Cup.
The
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, the world's premier professional sport
for women, boasts more than 2,000 players representing 90
nations in 2007 competing for over $70 million in prize money
at 60 events in 34 countries. Neo Sports Plus will telecast
exclusively all Tier 1 & Tier 2 events of the Tour Calendar
for the 4 seasons of 2008, beginning with the semi-finals
of the Open Gaz de France being held in Paris on 9th of February
from the 22 top-tier events.
Sony
Ericsson WTA Tour VP of television and digital media Michael
Rowe said, "We are delighted to announce that Neo Sports
Plus will become an official broadcast partner of the Sony
Ericsson WTA Tour. Through this new partnership, the Sony
Ericsson WTA Tour will be broadcast throughout India on an
extremely popular channel."
The
2008 season comprising 24 top-tier tennis events concludes
in November with the Sony Ericsson Championships - Qatar 2008
Championships in Qatar. Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events are
viewed across the globe, reaching hundreds of millions of
households, and are immensely popular, attracting more than
four million spectators worldwide.
|
