Dd Yorks Star Sports, Espn Out Of Bangladesh Cup

The run-up to Bangladeshs Independence Cricket Cup promises to be hot. No doubt the cricketing giants are waiting to cover themselves in glory on the field, but off it the cola war has certainly spilled over on the sub-continent even as Doordarshan has finally flexed its muscles to snap up exclusive telecast rights for the tournament.

Cola kings Pepsi and Coca-Cola have both clashed for a share of the thunder with the former picking up exclusive pouring rights that is, it is the only drink which can be sold on the grounds for all matches in Bangladesh while the latter is to be the title sponsor for the January fixture.

Doordarshan, on its part, has outbid satellite channel rivals by picking up exclusive telecast rights for the tournament to be called the Coca-Cola Independence Cup for a reported sum of $2.5 million from World Tel. Its nearest rival was STAR Sports-ESPN whose last bid was about $2 million. The participating teams are India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

After having been overshadowed by Pepsi in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan on the cricket front, Coke has been really pushing to make up lost ground. It has been virtually blanked out from Pakistan, with Pepsi signing up as sponsors with the national cricket team for a period of three years earlier this year.

Pepsi also has a long-term understanding with the Indian and Sri Lankan cricket boards to sponsor cricket matches in the two countries. However, Coke is now not only the title sponsor for the Bangla Cup but is also believed to be in parleys with ace Indian speedster Javagal Srinath to get him to endorse some soft drinks brands in the Coke stable.

World Tel-promoter Mark Mascarenhas, talking to Business Standard from the US, said: Yes, the title sponsor for the Bangla Cup is Coke. I see no problem with Coke being the title sponsor and the agreement which Pepsi has signed with Bangla Cricket Association (BCA) for exclusive pouring rights. If Pepsi tries to create problems, then we will invoke International Cricket Council rules.

Pepsi was unavailable for comments on whether Coke could be the title sponsor for a tournament in Bangladesh while it had a memorandum of understanding with the BCA. Syed Ashraful Haq, a senior official of BCA, did not respond to a faxed questionnaire sent last week.

Though Mascarenhas refused to divulge the amount paid by Coke, cable and satellite TV industry sources said Coke had coughed up more than half-a-million dollars for the title sponsorship.

On Doordarshan outbidding it for the Cups telecast rights, ESPNs managing director R K Singh said: We did bid for the tournament, but did not want to go beyond a certain amount.

DD, which snapped up the telecast rights through Delhi-based marketing company Stracon has made arrangements for digital uplinking and downlinking of signals from Bangladesh to ensure enhanced picture and sound quality. For this purpose a C-band transponder would, reportedly, be leased on the PAS-4 satellite.