ESPN STAR Sports Signs Sponsors for Premier League Coverage

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ESPN STAR Sports, Asia’s number one sports broadcaster has concluded broadcast sponsorship deals with four of Asia’s most recognizable brands, Tiger, Toshiba, Toyota and Nokia, for Asia’s most popular TV sport, the English Premier League. The sponsorship agreement will see all four brands enjoying regional association with the 2004/05 English Premier League season through a combination of multi-level integrated benefits. This includes on-air and online entitlements around all ‘live’ matches and repeats on ESPN and STAR Sports as well as marketing and online benefits. The English Premier League season is seen in 210 million homes across Asia live and exclusive on ESPN and STAR Sports. For the first time, ESPN STAR Sports will double its coverage of the League. Ten matches will be shown each competition week instead of five, most of them live. The rest are on a quick turnaround and accompanied by a line-up of programming which covers predictions, highlights, news and information, as well as pre and post-game analysis. Sports viewers can expect up to 380 matches each season compared to the previous 165. ESPN STAR Sports’ coverage of the League also includes new programmes that will engage and involve viewer participation, taking football entertainment to a whole new level. The English Premier League is the most widely distributed sports programming across Asia. In the 2003/2004 season alone, 8 out of 10 people with cable in Asia tuned in weekly to watch the drama and excitement of the English Premier League. While Asia’s sizeable out of home audience remains unmeasured by in-home Peoplemeter measurements, research indicates that 64% watch the English Premier League outside their homes every week. English Premier League Matches on ESPN STAR Sports continue to be the top programme on cable, rating 10 times better than the best programme on all other cable channels.