ESPN STAR Sports (ESS), the Asian sports broadcaster, has signed new carriage deals for its flagship cricket channel STAR Cricket in Philippines and Indonesia.
With the deals in place, the company is looking at expanding its footprint beyond the traditional cricket markets and growing the popularity of Cricket across South-East Asia.
STAR Cricket, as a separate channel, was launched in 2007 in the Indian subcontinent. On the back of a strong content line up, the channel has continued to expand in non-traditional cricket markets over the years. Currently, it is available in Singapore, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, and Maldives.
In July last year, ESS had launched STAR Cricket HD in key markets across Asia such as India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Singapore.
ESPN STAR Sports’ Managing Director Peter Hutton said, “We’re delighted to be able to help the ICC grow the game worldwide, and to see STAR Cricket increase its popularity across Asia.”
STAR Cricket features all formats of the game and its line-up of cricket properties include International Cricket Council (ICC) events, international and domestic cricket from India, Australia and England and Champions League Twenty20. It also showcased the inaugural edition of the Sri Lankan Premier League and the Bangladesh Premier League earlier this year.
