MUMBAI: The race for getting Sri Lanka Cricket?s (SLC) commercial rights is getting hotter with Nimbus Communications and Neo Prime Sports putting in separate bids to vie for the rights while Zeel-owned Taj Television wants to retain them at any cost.

Apart from Taj TV, Neo Prime and Nimbus, sports marketing agency Total Sports Asia (TSA) has also put in bids for SLC commercial rights.

The bid opening took place on 16 March in the presence of SLC officials, the representatives from the respective bidders, representation from the Ministry of Sports and the Auditor Generals Department.

While the bids have been submitted to the Technical Evaluation Committee for evaluation and recommendations, English daily The Sunday Leader reported that Taj TV had made the highest bid.

There is, however, no official confirmation on the highest bidder. The ratification process which is underway is expected to be completed within this week when the name of the winning bidder is also expected to be announced.

What is of surprise, though, is the absence of Star India and its sister concern Fox Star Sports Asia from the bidding race. The absence of Multi Screen Media?s (MSM) sports channel Sony Six from the bidding is equally astonishing.

So why have two of India?s biggest broadcasting companies opted out of the race?

Sources in the know of the things say that there are no India matches in the seven-year rights period as the SLC?s incumbent broadcast partner, Taj TV, will have the rights to broadcast the lone India series in the rights cycle irrespective of who wins the rights eventually.

India will tour Sri Lanka in July-August 2017 involving three Tests, five ODIs and two T20s unless the SLC and BCCI agree to play more than once.

With no India tour on offer, Star and Sony saw little value in the property as an India series is what brings in the moolah for broadcasters. With no bidding war, the value of the rights is expected to see a decrease.

That apart, Taj TV still needs SLC rights, more so since it has a dedicated cricket channel to run. It will help the broadcaster to maintain a regular stream of live cricket as it already holds the rights for South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe cricket boards.
In fact, it would be a win-win situation for Taj TV as it will get to retain SLC rights in addition to the lone India series, the rights for which it already owns irrespective of who wins the SLC rights. In 2009, the company had retained the rights for four more years after forking out $65 million.

The story is slightly different for Neo Sports, which has put in a separate bid along with its parent company Nimbus. A win here will give Neo a booster shot to rebuild its business post the loss of BCCI rights, in addition to the strategic value that it brings to the channel.

The broadcaster, which had last year renamed its cricket channel, recently acquired New Zealand Cricket (NZC) rights till 2020. It had also retained Asia Cup broadcast rights for 2014 Asia Cup.

The SLC had last month floated tender for the sale of international broadcast, internet, mobile, radio, and sponsorship rights till 2020. It had also floated tender for television production of international matches in Sri Lanka.

For television production, the SLC has received bids from Kingsdown TV, STV Productions, Sportsworkz Fine Vision Group and Nimbus Communications.

MUMBAI: Neo Prime, formerly Neo Cricket, has sealed the broadcast rights for the West Indies tour of Bangladesh for Indian sub-continent and the US market.

Fresh from winning their first major title in eight years, the World Twenty20 Champions aim to continue their ascent in the world rankings as they tour Bangladesh for 2 Tests, 5 One Day Internationals and 1 T20.

Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasana Krishnan said, "West Indies cricket is on a high after their World T20 victory and we are thrilled to have stalwarts like Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Shivnarine Chanderpaul playing on Neo for our viewers in the Indian Sub-continent and the US to enjoy."

Nimbus Communications, the parent company of Neo Sports Broadcast, incidentally held the broadcast rights for Bangladesh cricket. Currently, the Bangladesh Cricket Board is without an official broadcaster following a cold response from broadcasters to international media rights tender.

MUMBAI: Neo Prime has signed French football legend Frank Leboeuf for an exclusive preview shows and wrap around content during Uefa Euro 2012 telecast.

The wrap around show ?Extra Time? will be hosted by Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan and feature Leboeuf along with celebrity football fans across all walks of life - Bollywood, Business, Music and Fashion.

Besides, the former Chelsea defender will also be involved with several on ground initiatives including football clinics, contests and meet and greet with fans apart from on air programming on Neo Prime.

Leboeuf was part of the historic French team that won the Fifa World Cup in 1998 and the Uefa Euro in 2000.

Leboeuf said, "I am delighted to visit India and stay there and interact with the football fans right through the tournament. The Uefa Euro has always been one of the toughest football championships, on par with the Fifa World Cup. All the teams are top-notch competitors and eight out of the 16 teams can potentially emerge champions in this edition. I am particularly excited about engaging with fans across multiple touch-points - On Air, On Ground, Online and On Mobile."

Neo Sports Broadcasting EVP - Programming and Creative Head Mautik Tolia said, "Uefa Euro 2012 is the biggest football extravaganza of the year and we wanted to raise the bar and interact with fans beyond the TV screen. Frank is a legend and for a blockbuster event like Uefa Euro, we needed someone with his skill, knowledge and enthusiasm to take our programming vision forward and delight the football."