Frontier India Current Affairs

Written on May 29, 2008 – 7:49 pm | by FICA |

UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, has marked India as an emerging TV market for UEFA EURO 2008T - the second biggest sporting event globally in terms of TV viewership. The confidence of UEFA derives from the fact that soccer’s popularity has been growing consistently in India over the past few years and the game has firmly established itself as the second most popular sport in the country. All the 31 matches of UEFA EURO 2008T will be shown LIVE on ESPN.

Speaking on the increasing soccer popularity in India, UEFA’s Marketing Director Philippe Le Floc’h said, “India is an emerging TV market for football and we are very interested in the outcome of UEFA Euro 2008T there. We expect India to be amongst the biggest viewers of the UEFA EURO 2008T football experience outside of Europe.

The younger generation especially in the metros recognizes and relates to the mega stars participating in the event. We expect that this increased interest will translate into unprecedented reach and ratings for UEFA Euro 2008T.

We are convinced that fans and football enthusiasts will be inspired by the football skills showcased during UEFA EURO 2008T and we strongly hope this will benefit the further development of football in India.

Globally, UEFA Euro 2008T will be telecast in more than 200 countries. We expect billions of viewers to enjoy the spectacle of the 2008 European Football ChampionshipsT.”

Soccer viewership has been on the rise in India. FIFA World Cup 2006 put soccer in a different league, reaching out to a cumulative audience of 627 million, registering 9.1 TVR (males, 15+, SEC A, B & C, C&S households) on an All India basis, which is comparable to top performing soaps and ODIs. The just concluded season of Barclays Premier League was sampled by 59.6 million individuals (CS, 4+). The event was sampled by as much as 45% of C&S individuals. Ratings of BPL in metros have been touching new highs with the Liverpool vs. Manchester United match delivering a high of 7.2 TVR (Males, M, 15-24, Sec AB). 23 matches registered a TVR of more than 1 in Mumbai while 9 matches in Kolkata breached the 1 TVR mark in the 2007-08 season (Males, 15-24, SEC AB).

UEFA EURO 2004T had also attracted a huge viewership across India, as the traditional soccer markets like Kolkata and Kerala showed TRPs of 6.48 and 3.71 respectively for all the matches. Even the non traditional markets like MP, Gujarat outperformed metros. UEFA EURO 2008T will showcase a bonanza of 31 thrilling matches including 24 First Round matches, four Quarterfinal matches and two semifinal matches from June 19. The final will be played in Vienna on June 29, 2008. The festival of football will be witnessed in eight cities - Basel, Geneva, Vienna, Klagenfurt, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Zurich and Berne.

The three channels from the bouquet of ESPN STAR Sports, namely ESPN, STAR Sports and STAR Cricket have acquired the rights to broadcast cricket from England & Australia. The forthcoming Asia Cup to be played in Pakistan will be showcased on ESPN STAR Sports. After bagging of the coveted International Cricket Council (ICC) global telecast and marketing rights until 2015, ESPN STAR Sports now have major cricket tournaments in their kitty. The rights package, starting in 2007, includes the two ICC Cricket World Cups in 2011 and 2015, ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Twenty20 World Cups in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014, Women’s World Cup and Intercontinental Cup.

In Tennis, ESPN STAR Sports broadcasts three slams - the Australian Open, the French Open as well as the Wimbledon. The sports broadcaster also showcases live action from the ATP Masters Series.

In Motorsports, ESPN STAR Sports showcases all the 18 races of F1 ‘LIVE’ and exclusive on its network. In addition to enhance viewers’ enjoyment of Formula-I, the network telecasts informative support programming like Race Day and Chequered Flag. ESPN STAR Sports also has acquired rights to telecast A1 GP in India. In addition, ESPN STAR Sports showcases Moto GP for the benefit of its viewers in India.