International Premier Tennis League Gives More Variety to Indian Audience
Photo courtesy of IPTL – International Premier Tennis League Facebook
Over the past couple of years, there has been an extra push towards providing sports entertainment on television other than cricket to the Indian market. The Pro Kabaddi League saw an incredible amount of success in its first tournament, becoming one of the most-watched tournaments in the nation’s history.
In an effort to continue that trend of popularizing other sports domestically, Star Sports was given the rights to the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), a new league set to start in November 2014.
“The acquisition of IPTL rights is in line with the Star Sports’s objective of fulfilling India’s growing appetite for non-cricketing sports such as tennis, hockey, badminton and kabaddi,” Star Sports said in an official statement.
The league was created by Indian tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi. It is scheduled to start on November 28 in Singapore and finish December 13 in UAE.
Matches will air live on STAR Sports, STAR Sports HD and starsports.com.
“The IPTL is an unprecedented opportunity for sports fans across India to experience the game played by its legends,” Star India President–Sports Nitin Kukreja said. “This is the first time India will play host to some of the biggest names in tennis, and we at Star Sports are extremely proud to be associated with this league.”
The potential impact of this is astronomical, primarily because of its timing. The Indian Super League (ISL) just kicked off its inaugural season, soon after the Pro Kabaddi League took the country by storm. The second season of the Elite Football League of India (EFLI) is set to commence New Year’s Eve.
With the IPTL, sports in India will finally go beyond cricket.
“We’re very excited that Star Sports has acquired the rights to broadcast over the long term,” said Bhupathi. “Given their network strength and their commitment to growing sport in the country, our decision to partner with them was an easy one. We’re confident that the IPTL’s quicker and more exciting format, bundled with Star Sports’ strength in packaging and promotion will lend greatly to delivering a great viewing experience to sports fans.”
Rohit Ghosh is a Senior Writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RohitGhosh. “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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