He was a partner and rival of Espn, passed through the hands of two of the largest groups in the audiovisual sector in the world and is the undisputed leader of sports in his country. Mumbai-based television group Star Sports controls virtually all television rights in the world’s most populous country., with specialties such as cricket, soccer, badminton or kabaddi. Since 2019, it has been in the hands of the American giant The Walt Disney Company.
LThe company started up in 1991, in full expansion in India. Only three years later, the American Espn, then already one of the largest operators in the sector, launched to conquer the Asian market.
After unsuccessfully competing with Star India, both companies ended up creating a joint venture in 1996, Espn Star Sports. What the American chain did not know is that years later, the Indian David would eat the American Goliath.
Star Sports was founded in 1996 following the agreement between Espn and Star India to combine their operations in India.
The union of forces of both channels resulted in an increase in the sports portfolio in its programming: from football to badminton, passing through the great stronghold of Espn Star Sports in India, cricket. The commitment to the king of sports in the country was ironclad, taking over the broadcasting rights of the main competitions, such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) and other international tournaments, such as the International Cricket Council (ICC), the ICC Cricket World Cup and the ICC T20 World Cup, among others.
The two operators continued their Indian idyll until 2013, when Star Sports acquired Espn’s stake in the joint venture. As a result of the operation, the Indian chain considerably increased its pool of sports, by acquiring the rights of the main European soccer leagues, such as LaLiga, the Premier League and the Bundesliga, among others.
The Indian channel’s commitment to soccer was intertwined with the growing interest in this sport in India and with the success of the Indian Super League (ISL), the country’s professional soccer league. Since then, Star Sports has been a relevant partner of the ISL and has contributed to the rise in popularity of football in India.
After the 2013 restructuring, the Indian network not only added sports to its portfolio, but also created new channels to cover its new disciplines: Star Cricket and Star Sports 2, the company’s first channel in Hindi.
Currently, the Indian chain belongs to The Walt Disney Company
Although that was not the only change of hands during that year. The American company 21st Century Fox acquired a majority stake in Star Sportstaking the Indian chain to countries like Nepal, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, among others.
six years later, in March 2019, The Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion, which led to the indirect acquisition of Star Sports by the American entertainment group. Since then, Star Sports has continued to grow as a part of Disney India.
Between August 31 and September 17, Star Sports programming is conditioned by the Asia Cup Cricket, with the match between the Afghanistan team against Sri Lanka as the last match broadcast by the Indian network to date.
2023-09-06 03:12:47
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