MUMBAI: Board of Cricket Control for India (BCCI) has sold the telecast rights for the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to World
Sports Group-Mauritius for over Rs 335 crore, 50% higher than its deal with Sony Max, a channel owned by Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony Entertainment Television).
In the course of his argument at Bombay High Court on Tuesday, BCCI counsel Virag Tulzapurkar said: “We are getting
Rs 335 crore-plus extra from the new agreement.” Justice SJ Kathawala, on Tuesday, reserved his orders in the case.
WSG-India had won the broadcast rights for over $1.3 billion for 10 years.
It sold the telecast rights for Indian territory to MSM for Rs 220 crore per season, beginning 2008, for five years. BCCI, on March 15, signed an agreement awarding telecast rights to WSG Mauritius. WSG-Mauritius is not directly related to WSG-India.
However, MSM can still bag the rights from WSG-Mauritius. Mr Tulzapurkar has informed the Bombay high court that BCCI had agreed to allow WSG-Mauritius to award the sub-license to MSM for the telecast, provided the litigation is withdrawn.
According to the March 15 agreement, WSG-Mauritius must find a broadcaster by March 18 (Wednesday), BCCI counsel Venkatesh Dhond told ET. WSG-Mauritius is already in talks with broadcasters for the telecast rights of IPL season 2.
Among others, the contenders for the telecast rights of the 2009 season are ESPN-Star Sports, Neo Sports, Ten Sports and Doordarshan, Mr Dhond stated in the Bombay high court.
MSM had dragged BCCI to court after it received termination notice from the latter on Saturday. It wanted the court to restrain BCCI from discussing broadcast rights with any other party.
BCCI had given two notices regarding breach of agreement before terminating the contract, Mr Tulzapurkar said. He also said MSM’s decision to award on-air sponsorship to Bharti Airtel and its failure to address the issue of introducing certain ‘commercial elements’ during the last telecast season were contrary to the agreement.
MSM’s counsels Iqbal Chhagla and Janak Dwarkadas argued that BCCI had sent a notice for terminating the agreement through facsimile to MSM on Saturday after office hours. So, the termination would be effective only after they receive it on Monday.
Sports Group-Mauritius for over Rs 335 crore, 50% higher than its deal with Sony Max, a channel owned by Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony Entertainment Television).
In the course of his argument at Bombay High Court on Tuesday, BCCI counsel Virag Tulzapurkar said: “We are getting
Rs 335 crore-plus extra from the new agreement.” Justice SJ Kathawala, on Tuesday, reserved his orders in the case.
WSG-India had won the broadcast rights for over $1.3 billion for 10 years.
It sold the telecast rights for Indian territory to MSM for Rs 220 crore per season, beginning 2008, for five years. BCCI, on March 15, signed an agreement awarding telecast rights to WSG Mauritius. WSG-Mauritius is not directly related to WSG-India.
However, MSM can still bag the rights from WSG-Mauritius. Mr Tulzapurkar has informed the Bombay high court that BCCI had agreed to allow WSG-Mauritius to award the sub-license to MSM for the telecast, provided the litigation is withdrawn.
According to the March 15 agreement, WSG-Mauritius must find a broadcaster by March 18 (Wednesday), BCCI counsel Venkatesh Dhond told ET. WSG-Mauritius is already in talks with broadcasters for the telecast rights of IPL season 2.
Among others, the contenders for the telecast rights of the 2009 season are ESPN-Star Sports, Neo Sports, Ten Sports and Doordarshan, Mr Dhond stated in the Bombay high court.
MSM had dragged BCCI to court after it received termination notice from the latter on Saturday. It wanted the court to restrain BCCI from discussing broadcast rights with any other party.
BCCI had given two notices regarding breach of agreement before terminating the contract, Mr Tulzapurkar said. He also said MSM’s decision to award on-air sponsorship to Bharti Airtel and its failure to address the issue of introducing certain ‘commercial elements’ during the last telecast season were contrary to the agreement.
MSM’s counsels Iqbal Chhagla and Janak Dwarkadas argued that BCCI had sent a notice for terminating the agreement through facsimile to MSM on Saturday after office hours. So, the termination would be effective only after they receive it on Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment