ESPN-STAR Sports have +150 days of live cricket

ESPN, STAR Sports and STAR Cricket to showcase more than 150 days of LIVE cricket.

ESPN STAR Sports, Asia's leading sports broadcaster, will be showcasing some of the best cricketing action beginning June this year. The cricket fever escalates across the country as ESPN, STAR Sports and STAR Cricket bring in 157 days of uninterrupted cricket from June 2007 to September 2008. This would include LIVE and exclusive action from India's tour of England and Australia, the first ever Twenty20 World Cup in 2007, the Asia Cup 2008 and the ICC Champions' Trophy scheduled next year.

Elaborating on the exciting line up of cricket, Mr. R C Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd, said, "We are absolutely delighted to bring this lip-smacking line-up of events to millions of cricket fans in India and elsewhere in the world. With some of the biggest tournaments like the Twenty20 World Cup, the Asia Cup and the Champions' Trophy and India's much awaited tours of Australia and England, the Indian cricket viewers will have enough reasons to celebrate with ESPN STAR Sports."

Indian cricket has always been the hottest TV property in the country encompassing millions of cricket fans. For these frenetic fans, ESPN STAR Sports will telecast India's tour of England where India will play 4 Test matches and 7 one day internationals (July "� September 07). This will be followed by the telecast of the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa (September 07). India's tour of Australia involving 4 test matches and a tri series with Australia, Sri Lanka and India involving 15 ODIs will also be telecast on the network (December 07 "�March 08). Other than these, the non-Indian cricket matches comprising of West Indies' tour of Zimbabwe, involving two test matches and three ODIs, and Australian tours of Sri Lanka and New Zealand will also be telecast on ESPN STAR Sports in Sep-Dec 2007.

ESPN STAR Sports will also be showcasing LIVE and pulsating action from Pakistan in the Asia Cup, involving 13 One-day Internationals in the month of May 2008. In addition, ESS will also present the great cricket battle, ICC Champions Trophy, bringing it LIVE from the battlegrounds of Pakistan which will see different teams fight out in 15 intense ODI matches in September 2008.

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.

Besides cricket, ESPN STAR Sports is focusing a lot on soccer, the second most watched sport in the country. ESPN STAR Sports plans to broadcast quality soccer in the coming season with LIVE telecast of the English Premier League and the Spanish Primera Liga. ESPN STAR Sports has extended its agreement with the FA Premier League (FAPL) to deliver the live and exclusive broadcast of the Barclays English Premier League (EPL) for the Indian subcontinent through 2010. ESPN STAR Sports also has a multi-year agreement with Spanish Primera Liga to deliver full and exclusive broadcast rights of Spanish Soccer league in India till 2009. In addition to all this, ESS will also telecast one of the biggest soccer tournaments from Europe - UEFA EURO 2008 in June next year.

ESPN and STAR Sports also have an exciting array of non cricket properties like F1 and A1 in Motor Sports, Grand Slam Tennis action from the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, the Premier Hockey League and best of action from the world of Golf and Wrestling.