Ten acquires Asian Tour rights from ESS, retains European Tour rights

MUMBAI: Close on the heels of acquiring the PGTI and LPGA broadcast rights, Taj Television?s soon-to-be-launched golf channel Ten Golf has acquired the broadcast rights for Asian Tour while renewing European Tour rights both for the period of six years from 2013-18.

ESPN Star Sports earlier had the broadcast rights for the Asian Tour.

As part of the deal, Taj TV will have rights to air live and exclusive coverage of European Tour and Asian Tour events. Ten Golf will telecast around 20 live events of Asian Tour and 30 live events of the European Tour in 2013, which will add up to 200 days of live golf between these two tours.

Taj Television CEO Atul Pande said, ?As we continue to expand our content, we?re delighted to add two of the most prestigious tours to our impressive line-up of golf properties. Our acquisition of the long term rights is an indication of our interest and commitment in bringing high quality golf to Indian audiences.?

From the Asian Tour, all tournaments from the Asian Tour including the tournaments which are co-sanctioned between the Asian Tour and the European Tour, the WGC-HSBC Championship, the Asian Tour Golf Show and event highlights will be televised.

Asian Tour Senior Director of Commercial and TV Eric Lynge said, ?The Asian Tour is thrilled with this new partnership with Ten Sports. The appeal of the Asian Tour has grown tremendously in India especially with the success of Order of Merit winners Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa over the years and many other young and exciting Indian golfers such as Gaganjeet Bhullar, Himmat Rai and Anirban Lahiri have also won on the Asian Tour in recent times."

Ten will telecast all European Tour tournaments live besides the highlights. Additionally, it will also showcase ?European Tour Weekly? a magazine show. Highlight programmes of the European Seniors Tour, European Challenge Tour events and ?The Challenge? magazine show will be televised.

"With India?s depth in the game and the Tour?s cosmopolitan appeal where our membership ranges from over 30 countries, we are confident viewers of Ten Golf will be treated to the very best of Asian golf over the coming years,? European Tour Director of Broadcasting and New Media Mark Lichtenhein said.

?We?re delighted to extend our relationship with Ten Sports for a further 6 years and we are excited to be central to the development of Ten Golf, India?s first golf channel. We believe that there is enormous potential for golf in India particularly following its reintroduction as an Olympic sport in 2016.?