ESPN STAR Sports Wins Asia Broadcast Rights for Rugby World Cup 2011

ESPN STAR Sports has won the broadcast rights in Asia for the Rugby World Cup 2011 to be held in New Zealand it was announced by Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL).

The deal involves, ESPN STAR sports broadcasting all 48 matches live across 13 territories in Asia, ensuring that sports fans will see every try, tackle and pass of Rugby’s premier event.

This will be supplemented with dedicated streaming and video on demand through ESPN Player and MobileESPN in Singapore and weekly highlights programming in several territories.

Rugby participation in Asia has grown by 18% since Rugby World Cup 2007 in France and the announcement further underlines ESPN STAR Sports’ commitment to bring the very best Rugby action to sports fans in Asia.

“Asia is a major growth region for Rugby and the IRB is committed to ensuring that sports fans across the Region are able to experience our showcase event,” said RWCL Managing Director Mike Miller.

“ESPN STAR Sports is recognised as Asia’s leading sports broadcaster and through extensive Rugby World Cup 2011 programming, it will deliver the platform for Rugby to engage new fans across the Region.”

ESPN STAR Sports Managing Director, Manu Sawhney, said: “We are delighted to bring the third largest sporting event in the world to Rugby fans across Asia. We have a proud history of Rugby programming and have screened every RWC tournament since 1999, which underscores our commitment to bring the best in worldwide sports to our viewers in Asia.”

Terms of deal will see ESPN STAR Sports broadcast all the action in Singapore, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Korea, Laos, Macau, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Vietnam.

Rugby World Cup 2011 kicks off on September 9 with the final will be played on October. 23.