MUMBAI: Neo Sports has said it will be the exclusive broadcast partner for the Nehru Cup football tournament. It is learnt that the broadcaster has paid between Rs 5-10 million for acquiring the rights as it grapples with the challenge to feed its channels with live content.

The broadcaster, which had recently rebranded its cricket dedicated channel as an all sports channel Neo Prime, had televised the Uefa Euro 2012 football tournament and is betting big on football which has been on upswing in the recent past.

The biennial international invitational tournament, which has been organised by the AIFF since 1982, will kick off on 22 August and run till 2 September.

The event was telecast on Ten Sports last time around in 2010.

Defending Champions and two-time winners India will be gunning for a hat-trick of titles and will be up against Maldives, Syria, Nepal and African powerhouses Cameroon in a 10 match round robin league followed by the final between the top 2 teams.

All 11 matches will be broadcast live in prime time, with one match daily kicking off at 7 pm.

Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasana Krishnan said, ?Neo Sports has added yet another key event to our extensive football line up with Nehru Cup. TV ratings for football in India are growing exponentially, evident with the success of Uefa Euro 2012 on Neo Prime. With Nehru Cup being India?s only international football tournament, it is sure to garner high viewership. We look forward to serving Indian football fans with top class coverage of this celebrated event?

IMG Reliance COO Ashu Jindal said, ?With 2012 being the Platinum Jubilee of the AIFF (All India Football Federation) and India returning as defending champions, we are extremely pleased to partner with Neo Sports for the broadcast of this historic edition of the Nehru Cup. This is a key tournament in our vision to radically restructure and popularize football in India. With double the prize money and an extensive production plan, the event will be bigger and grander."

MUMBAI: Left with little live content for its cricket specific channel, Neo Cricket Tuesday announced that it has acquired telecast rights for the South Africa-New Zealand series from Max, the India broadcast rights holder for international cricket played in New Zealand.

The South Africa Tour to New-Zealand will comprise three T20s, ODIs and Tests matches each from 17 February to 23 March.

Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasana Krishnan said, ?The series promises to be highly engaging as South Africa is just one step away from being the No. 1 test side while New Zealand is in terrific form after drawing a test series against Australia last December."

The broadcaster had recently reworked a fresh distribution deal with MSM Discovery that would reduce the payout compared to earlier three-year deal that was called-off as Neo had lost the India cricket rights.
Neo will also showcase the four nation Asia Cup from 1-12 March featuring India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.