Neo Sports to broadcast 2012 Nehru Cup

Sports broadcaster Neo Sports has acquired the exclusive rights to show the 2012 Nehru Cup live from New Delhi. Neo will be showing the 11 match tournament on its new Neo Prime channel, the former Neo Cricket which it rebranded after losing the BCCI cricket rights.

The 2007 and 2009 editions of the Nehru Cup were shown on Zee Sports (now TenAction+), which team India had both won and on both occasions against Syria, whom they meet in the tournament opener on August 22. The Nehru Cup had been first held in 1982 as India's own international football tournament and has special significance as the AIFF is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

The 2012 Nehru Cup will be played from August 22 to September 2 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium with all matches set for a 19.00 IST kick-off. Besides hosts and double defending champions India, the tournament would see African side Cameroon, Syria, the Maldives and Nepal in action. In the round robin group stage all five teams will play each other once and the top two sides will meet each other again in the final.

Prasana Krishnan, Neo Sports Broadcast COO, said, "Neo Sports has added yet another key event to our extensive football line up with Nehru Cup. TV ratings for football in India are growing exponentially, evident with the success of Uefa Euro 2012 on Neo Prime. With Nehru Cup being India’s only international football tournament, it is sure to garner high viewership. We look forward to serving Indian football fans with top class coverage of this celebrated event."

Ashu Jindal, IMG-Reliance COO, said, "With 2012 being the Platinum Jubilee of the AIFF and India returning as defending champions, we are extremely pleased to partner with Neo Sports for the broadcast of this historic edition of the Nehru Cup. This is a key tournament in our vision to radically restructure and popularize football in India. With double the prize money and an extensive production plan, the event will be bigger and grander."

Euro2012: iStream.com to livestream Neo Prime broadcast in India

The official broadcaster of the UEFA Euro2012 championships for the Indian subcontinent Neo Prime has tied-up with premier video portal iStream.com to provide exclusive live streaming in India of the Neo Prime telecast.

Neo Prime hopes to get a tangible online viewership which will help to boast its ad sales which have been positive for the channel, which hopes to generate upto Rs 500 (50 crores) through Euro2012.

The UEFA Euro2012 broadcast on Neo Prime will be streamed live on a dedicated segment within istream.com, and the fans would also have access to the content on demand for a full month both through www.neosports.tv and the www.istream.com sites. Fans would also be access and enjoy extensive support programming around the event, including pre-and after match highlights, team and player stats, profiles, trivia and other related clips from the mega football event, being jointly hosted by Poland and the Ukraine.

Neo Sports Broadcast Ltd COO Prasana Krishnan said, "The consumer traction for International football is at its zenith in India. We aim to delight the fans by providing live coverage of the biggest football extravaganza of the year across multiple touch points including on-air and online. Neo Prime is delighted to partner with iStream.com for live streaming of the Neo Broadcast of UEFA EURO 2012. The aggressive marketing plan is bound to see unprecedented online traffic for this blockbuster event."

"UEFA EURO 2012 is one of the most anticipated sporting events this calendar and we are happy to partner with Neo Sports to stream an event of this magnitude on the internet in India. We believe that football has a strong pull among the Internet audiences in the country and this is part of our overall strategy to build a strong sports vertical for istream.com. We plan to bring in more such exclusive partnerships in the online video space," iStream founder and CEO Radhakrishnan Ramachandran added.

Euro2012: Frank Leboeuf expert on Neo Prime!

Neo Prime, formerly known as Neo Cricket, which was only relaunched a few days ago has announced that former French international defender Frank Leboeuf would be the football expert on their programming around the 2012 UEFA European Championships in Poland and the Ukraine.

The channel is going to have pre-match and wrap-up shows under the title 'Extra Time' which will be hosted by Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan and have Leboeuf as permanent expert besides celebrity football fans from across all walks of life like Bollywood, business, music and fashion.

The 44 year old Franck Alain James Leboeuf had played 50 times for France and was part of the 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2000 European Championship winnings Equipe Tricolore squads. He is best known playing for RC Strassbourg, Chelsea FC and Olympique Marseille.

An elated Frank Leboeuf said, "I am delighted to visit India and stay there and interact with football fans right through the tournament. The UEFA Euro has always been one of the toughest football championships, on a 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."

Mautik Tolia, EVP – Programming and Creative Head, Neo Sports, said, "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 this, we needed someone with his skill, knowledge and enthusiasm to take our programming vision forward and delight the football fans."

The Nimbus Communications owned Neo Prime/Neo Sports channels has bought the exclusive rights for the 2012 European Championships from European football governing body UEFA. The rights are for the whole Indian sub-continent which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives and Bhutan.

Neo Sports to show Euro2012 from Poland/Ukraine

The Nimbus Communications owned Neo Sports channel has bought the exclusive rights for the 2012 European Championships from European football governing body UEFA. The rights are for the whole Indian sub-continent which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives and Bhutan. Earlier the rights had been with ESPN-Star Sports.

The package of the two-year deal between UEFA and Neo Sports includes not only the 2012 UEFA European Championships but also the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and the 2013 UEFA Women's European Championships. The overall deal is said to be worth around Rs 1 Billion (100 crores).

The 2012 edition of the UEFA European Championships will be co-hosted by Poland and the Ukraine from June 8 to July 1, 2012 across four venues in each hosting nation. Besides the two hosts 14 teams will qualify for the 16 team tournament.

The previous edition in 2008 was telecast live in 203 countries and the average audience figure for a live match exceeded 146 million. There was a substantial increase for the finals where the average audience figure was around 237 million.

Speaking about the acquisition Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt. Ltd COO Prasana Krishnan said, "This acquisition is a significant step towards delivering on the overall brand promise of Neo Sports as a premium sport destination. This is by far one of the most high profile soccer events and will definitely garner high quality viewership for the channel."

Earlier Neo Sports had acquired and shown the 2011 Copa America, the South American Football Championships; while also acquiring the rights of the Tennis French Open (2012 to 2016) and the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Neo Sports showing Copa America live!

A lot of you have been asking me, so just to inform you all the 2011 Copa America in Argentina is live on Indian television through sports broadcaster Neo Sports which kicked-off on Friday (early Saturday in India).

Neo Sports Broadcast executive VP programming Mautik Tolia said, "Copa America reiterates our commitment to showcase the best premium sporting action to the Indian viewer. The Copa America promises to fulfill the Indian football fan's legendary romance with Latin American football. It offers a not to be missed spectacular carnival over the next one month with the world's best footballers - the likes of Messi, Kaka, Robinho etc competing against each other."

The 2011 Copa América (Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América), the South American football championships, is being held in Argentina from July 1 to 24. The 10 South American teams plus invitees Costa Rica and recently crowned CONCACAF champions Mexico will be facing each other to win the trophy.

In Group A Argentina is facing Bolivia, Colombia and Costa Rica; in Group B Brazil take on Venezuela, Paraguay and Ecuador; while Group C will see Uruguay, Chile, Peru and Mecixo in action. So far fans of South American football will have been disappointed with Argentina and Brazil only drawing their opening round matches.