STAR Sports acquires rights to International Premier Tennis League

This acquisition is in line with the Star Sports' objective of fulfilling India's growing appetite for non-cricketing sports

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | October 17, 2014

Moving ahead with the philosophy of fostering a multi-sport culture in India, Star Sports has acquired the rights to telecast the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL). The acquisition of IPTL rights is in line with the broadcaster's objective of fulfilling India's growing appetite for non-cricketing sports such as tennis, hockey, badminton and kabaddi.

IPTL is slated to kick-start from November 28, 2014. It is a key marquee event that will bring together current champions, tennis legends and upcoming talent in a format that's never been seen before. The league is being organised by the 12-time doubles and mixed-doubles Grand Slam Champion and winner of 52 ATP doubles titles – Mahesh Bhupathi, with an intention to fulfil the increasing demand for top-level tennis in Asia.

IPTL will be played in indoor stadiums across four Asian countries - Philippines, Singapore, India and UAE, from November 28 to December 13, 2014. The India leg of IPTL that is scheduled to be held in Delhi will be witness to tennis legends like Roger Federer, who would be playing in India for the first time, besides Novak Djokovic, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych, Goran Ivanisevic and Pete Sampras.

Matches will be telecast live on Star Sports, Star Sports HD and starsports.com. Star Sports has an exemplary track record of broadcasting sports leagues and has continuously raised the bar in their television coverage of major sporting leagues in India, including the Indian Badminton League, Hero Hockey India League and the more recent Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League and Hero Indian Super League.

Nitin Kukreja

“The International Premier Tennis League is an unprecedented opportunity for sports fans across India to experience the game played by its legends. 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. We're confident that the league will take the game of tennis to much greater heights and further accelerate its development and adoption,” said Nitin Kukreja, President – Sports, Star India.

Mahesh Bhupathi, Founder and MD, IPTL, said, “On behalf of IPTL, we're very excited that Star Sports has acquired the rights to broadcast over the long term. Given their network strength and their commitment to growing sports in the country, our decision to partner with them was an easy one. We're confident that 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, and attracting new ones to the game.”

Each IPTL match will consist of five sets played by different players that will include men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, mixed doubles and former Champions singles. Each game won will count as one point for the team points total and the team that wins the most games overall, across the five sets, will win the match. IPTL matches will feature live entertainment, a running shot clock and many more features to 'break the code' of the traditional etiquette of tennis, to attract a new audiences to the sport, across the world.

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