STAR Sports Acquires Rights to Telecast International Premier Tennis League

Moving ahead with the philosophy of fostering a multi-sport culture in India, STAR Sports – India’s leading sports broadcaster has acquired the rights to telecast the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL). The acquisition of IPTL rights is in line with the STAR Sports objective of fulfilling India’s growing appetite for non-cricketing sports such as Tennis, Hockey, Badminton and Kabaddi.

The IPTL is slated to kick start from November 28, 2014. It is a key marquee event that will bring together current champions, tennis legends and upcoming talent in a format that’s never been seen before. The league is being organized by the 12-time doubles and mixed doubles Grand Slam Champion and winner of 52 ATP doubles titles – Mahesh Bhupathi with an intention to fulfill the increasing demand for top-level tennis in Asia.

IPTL will be played in typically indoor stadiums across four Asian countries - Philippines, Singapore, India and UAE from November 28, 2014 to December 13, 2014. The India leg of the IPTL that is scheduled to be held in Delhi would be witness to Tennis greats like Roger Federer, who would be playing in India for the first time, besides Novak Djokovic, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych, Goran Ivanisevic and Pete Sampras

Matches will be telecast live on STAR Sports, STAR Sports HD and starsports.com. STAR Sports has an exemplary track record of broadcasting sports leagues and has continuously raised the bar in their television coverage of major sporting leagues in India, including the breakthrough Indian Badminton League, Hero Hockey India League and the more recent STAR Sports Pro Kabaddi League and Hero Indian Super League.

“The International Premier Tennis League is an unprecedented opportunity for sports fans across India to experience the game played by its legends. This is the first time India will play host to some of the biggest names in tennis, and we at Star Sports are extremely proud to be associated with this league. We’re confident that the league will take the game of tennis to much greater heights and further accelerate its development and adoption”, said Mr. Nitin Kukreja, President – Sports, Star India.

Commenting on the announcement, Mahesh Bhupathi, Founder and MD, IPTL said, “On behalf of the IPTL, we're very excited that Star Sports has acquired the rights to broadcast over the long term. Given their network strength and their commitment to growing sport in the country, our decision to partner with them was an easy one. We're confident that the IPTL's quicker and more exciting format, bundled with Star Sports' strength in packaging and promotion will lend greatly to delivering a great viewing experience to sports fans, and attracting new ones to the game!”

Each IPTL match will consist of 5 sets played by different players that will include men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and former Champions singles. Each game won counts as one point for the team points total and the team that wins the most games overall across the five sets wins the match. The IPTL matches will feature live entertainment, a running shot clock and many more features to ’Break the Code’ of the traditional etiquette of tennis to attract a new audience to the sport across the world.

Tournament Schedule

Player List

About Star India:

STAR India has defined India’s broadcast media for over two decades and is today one of the country’s leading media and entertainment companies. It broadcasts more than 40 channels in 7 languages, reaching more than 650 million viewers every week across India and 100 other countries. The network’s entertainment channel portfolio includes Star Gold, Channel V, Star World, Star Movies, Star Utsav, Life OK, Movies OK and Star Plus, India's No. 1 General Entertainment Channel. It has a leading presence in regional broadcasting as well, through a bouquet of affiliate channels which includes Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies, Star Pravah, Asianet, Asianet Plus, Suvarna, Suvarna Plus and Vijay.

STAR India is making quantum leaps in transforming sports in the country by leveraging the group's strengths in superior content production & broadcast and unparalleled audience engagement. STAR's sports business has grown rapidly to six channel properties (STAR Sports 1, STAR Sports 2, STAR Sports 3, STAR Sports 4, STAR Sports HD1, and STAR Sports HD2), making it the leading sports network in the country. The network operates India’s first 24x7 Hindi sports channel – STAR Sports 3, with content, graphics and shows in Hindi - a giant step forward to dramatically increase the reach of sports in the country. STAR India also broadcasts over 5,000 hours of premium live sports content, including around 200 days of live cricket in a year. An extension of the brand in the digital space is starsports.com, which has emerged central to STAR's aim to boost viewer participation and to foster a relationship with a growing set of consumers. STAR Sports reflects the energy and spirit of the nation's burgeoning youth, and is today synonymous with the best of local and world sports in India, as it holds media rights of most major sporting events including BCCI and ICC cricket matches, Champions League T20, Barclays Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Hockey India League, among others. 

STAR India is a fully owned subsidiary of 21st Century Fox. 

About International Premier Tennis League:

The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) is a unique team-based tennis league founded by multiple grand-slam winner, India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and played across 4 countries in Asia. The league will feature 21 Grand Slam Champions and 14 current/former World Number Ones, with the winning team walking away with prize money of USD 1 million. The inaugural edition will be held in the cities of Manila, Singapore, New Delhi and Dubai between 28^th November and 13^th December 2014.

The IPTL promises to ‘Break the Code’ of the game’s traditional etiquette in order to attract a new audience to the sport. Modeled after successful international sports franchise concepts and being recognized as tennis’ newest spectacle, the IPTL combines world-class sport and entertainment in a format that keeps both spectators and global TV viewers thoroughly engaged.

For the latest photos, photos and updates please visit:

http://www.premiertennisleague.com | http://www.youtube.com/premiertennisleague

http://twitter.com/iptl | https://www.facebook.com/iptl