ESPN STAR Sports bags multi-year broadcasting rights for Sri Lanka Premier League

New Delhi :  Sports broadcasting major, ESPN STAR Sports on Sunday said it has bagged multi-year broadcast rights for exclusive coverage of the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) in India.

The first edition of the T20 league will be played in August 2012. No financial details were disclosed.

The multi-year deal includes a minimum of 24 T20 matches per season and the first edition will see seven provisional teams compete for the trophy as well as a qualifier berth to the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) to be held later this year, ESPN STAR Sports said in a statement.

The agreement also includes live coverage of the SLPL in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Nepal, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, it added.

The SLPL will feature 42 international players from seven countries, it added.

STAR Cricket, STAR Sports and ESPN will broadcast all the matches live and exclusive in India starting August 11, 2012.

ESPN STAR Sports already has rights to existing T20 leagues from Australia, England and Bangladesh as well as CLT20 and ICC WT20.

 “We are delighted to be able to telecast the live matches of the SLPL in India and throughout the region. It is an excellent addition to STAR Cricket’s remarkable catalogue of content in the next year, headlined by India’s home series against Pakistan, England and New Zealand, the ICC World T20, the Champions League T20 and the ICC Champions trophy,” ESPN STAR Sports Managing Director Mr Peter Hutton said.

The SLPL will see international and domestic cricketers from Sri Lanka joining hands with talented U-21 players.

The tournament has also attracted players like Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Robin Peterson, Nathan McCullum, Andrew McDonald and Brendan Taylor among others.

ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between ESPN and News Corporation (Star) and runs channels like ESPN, STAR Sports, STAR Cricket, ESPN HD and STAR Cricket HD.