ESPN-Star, which is a joint venture of Walt Disney Co. and News Corp., has won the audio-visual rights for 18 ICC tournaments to be held from late 2007 to 2015. These 18 ICC tournaments will include two cricket World Cups, at least three Champions Trophy series and the first two Twenty20 world championships, according to a report published on the website of International Cricket Council.
However, how much amount of money ESPN-Star had to pay for winning this bid is still ambiguous. According to the reports popped up by local media, it is somewhere between $1 billion -$1.1 billion. While Sony Corp.’s Sony Entertainment Television, who is current holder of copyrights had won the rights for four years to the 2007 World Cup for an estimated $250 million.
The interesting thing about this bidding process is that ESPN-Star had to face tough challenge from other broadcasting giants to grab this bid, which includes India’s Zee Telefilms Ltd., Dubai’s Taj Television — which is now majority-owned by Zee, Sony Corp.’s Sony Entertainment Television and Nimbus communication.
Image credit: g5paintball
Via: Reuters
