India’s state broadcaster Doordarshan is set to enter the private sports leagues business in the country by launching university-level leagues in basketball, kabaddi and tackle football, which is a form of American football, reported Mint.
Doordarshan has already initiated talks with an unnamed American company which has expertise in the university sports sector, the report said. Doordarshan’s plan is to have a public-private partnership for the leagues, and later expand to other sports as well.
The public broadcaster will air zonal matches of the leagues on its regional channels, while the finals will be shown on DD National. “However, all the matches will be aired on DD Sports,” Supriya Sahu, Doordarshan director general, told the business newspaper.
Doordarshan wants to tap into the multi-billion dollar university and college sports industry by launching these leagues. In 2011, the United States’ National Collegiate Athletic Association signed a 14-year-long broadcast deal worth $10.8 billion.
This won’t be the first attempt at launching university sports leagues in India. In 2012, private broadcaster NDTV had launched a university cricket league in partnership with the Association of Indian Universities and the Ministry of Human Resource Development. However, the league didn’t go beyond the first season.
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