MUMBAI: The Hockey India League, promoted by Hockey India (HI) with the backing of International Hockey Federation (FIH), is slowly gaining momentum as the organisers look to kick-off the first edition in January next year.

HI, the governing body of Hockey in India, has roped in ESPN Star Sports as the broadcast partner for HIL in a five-year deal. Besides, the broadcast rights for the league, ESS has also bagged the rights for international hockey matches played in India for a period of five years.

Earlier, business conglomerate Sahara Indian Pariwar had announced that it has taken the franchise rights for the Lucknow team. Sahara is also the shirt sponsor of the Indian men?s and women?s hockey team forking out Rs 400 million for a five-year deal that runs till 2017.

ESS has, thus, renewed its association with Hockey, a sport which it tried to reinvigorate as far back as 2005 with Premier League Hockey, which died a premature death since it could not get the right business model.

While refusing to divulge any details, HI secretary general Narinder Batra said the association along with its marketing partner Twenty First Century Media approached all major broadcasters.

It is believed that Ten Sports was also in the fray for the rights.

"We approached all key players in sports broadcasting. However, ESPN Star Sports gave us the best deal. Therefore, we decided to work with them," Batra told Indiantelevision.com.

Neo Sports, the sports broadcasting arm of Nimbus Communications, was not in fray as its parent company Nimbus is the co-promoter of World Series Hockey, a franchise-based league that has often been termed as a rebel league.

The world hockey governing body has approved the league and has given a window so that international players will be available. The league will comprise six franchise hockey teams and will feature 33 hockey matches to be played in prime time in state-of-the-art stadia across the country.

All teams will play each other on a home and away basis (30 league matches) followed by two semifinals and the final. ESS also has the global broadcast rights to telecast at least five international hockey test matches every year under Hockey India to be played in India for the next five years. The number of matches that India will play against international opposition could go up depending on the finalisation of the series schedule.

"The proposed league (HIL) will be the biggest initiative that hockey has ever seen in India. We have been working out the details for months now and I am glad to announce that things are quickly falling into place. I am confident that our partners ESPN Star Sports will help us deliver a flawless world class product," added Batra.

ESS MD Peter Hutton is believed to be instrumental in getting the deal through since he has been key follower of the game and sees huge potential in the sport.

Hutton was part of the FIH?s marketing committee, which advised the world body on ways to promote Hockey and generate revenues. Incidentally, Hutton is also believed to have been a key force in doing the deal with FIH when he was in Taj Television, which runs Ten Sports.

Ten Sports, which began its partnership with FIH in 2005, holds the broadcast rights for all FIH events in Indian subcontinent till 2014.

"Hockey is close to our heart and we will drive all our efforts to make this league a success. We are also delighted to have all international hockey test matches under Hockey India to be played in India on our networks for a five year period. I look forward to some memorable occasions and a new era for Indian hockey," said Hutton.

The developments at HIL will have implications for Indian Hockey Federation?s World Series Hockey, which held its first edition earlier this year. The eight team tournament got off to a decent start despite mounting pressure from FIH and HI, who did not want the league to take off.

IHF president RK Shetty, meanwhile, brushed aside suggestions that HIL will kill WSH. "We have nothing to worry about their (Hockey India) league, if they are doing this, it?s good for the game. It will open more opportunities for players. As far as we are concerned, we are looking forward to the second edition of World Series Hockey," Shetty asserted.

Can two leagues co-exist?

Wizcraft, the owner of WSH?s Delhi franchise, is optimistic about the league format. Says director Sabbas Joseph, "Not enough is done for hockey. If more promotions are done, it will grow the sport?s visibility and more sponsorship revenue will come in. If we see an opportunity, then we would like to take part in this league as well. More people and companies getting active in hockey will increase the excitement around the sport. I think that hockey is big enough to support two leagues."

He adds that a certain amount of rivalry between the two leagues would be healthy as long as the sport grows. The key is that the conflict between hockey India and IHF should be resolved.

However, Maxus business head Jigar Rambhia is quite certain that only one league will eventually survive. "The sport is not that big in India as this stage. To further divide it by having two leagues is not good for anybody. Next year will give us an idea as to which is the stronger of the two leagues. Two leagues also gives rise to confusion as to which league is official."

Nambiar also thinks that the success of hockey leagues in India will depend upon how India fares at the Olympic Games. "If the team does well, then advertiser interest will pick up.People do follow hockey, although this is not always reflected in the numbers," he says.

MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) will deliver round-the-clock coverage on the London 2012 Olympic Games from 27 July to 12 August 2012, offering live coverage of the most popular global sporting event to Indian sports fans.

Out of the three channels, ESPN will focus on Indian athletes. The broadcaster expects that the reach for the event will double this year.

Talking about the strategy of covering the event in India, ESPN Software India senior director business development and event management group Rathindra Basu said, "Overall, we have rights to broadcast 240 hours of programming every day for the duration of 15 days which makes it almost 3,600 hours of programming. We will customise our feed especially for the Indian sports fans. The plan is that we will be showcase live broadcast of Olympics on three networks in India - ESPN, Star Sports and ESPN HD."

He explains that ESPN will be more India specific and showcase sports featuring Indian athletes, and those sports which are more popular in India such as Hockey, Shooting, Boxing, Wresting, Tennis and football.

"Star Sports will be showcasing sports like Gymnastics, Equestrian, Volleyball etc. The content of Star Sports will be more pan-regional. ESPN HD will be a blend of above two channels, showcasing many of the Indian athletes as well as best of sporting action from around the Olympics," he said.

The aim, he added, is to offer a complete and comprehensive presentation of the Games, hosted by ESS? studio presentation team in Singapore, as well as a team of reporters on-ground in London to deliver in-depth news updates, interviews and stories.

He highlighted the importance of ESPN having content that will attract Indian audiences. "After all Olympics is about pride, it is about one?s country reaching the pinnacle of sporting excellence in a particular sport/ category. We will showcase events which will involve Indian athletes for the sports fans in India. There is huge expectation from India?s sporting contingent and we will sieve through 3600 hours of live programming that is available to showcase the best possible sporting content for fans in India."

The core target audience for the games remains males, C&S 15+ All India. "I would like to qualify here that Olympics is the biggest sporting event across the planet where countries fight for supremacy in sports categories. We expect that viewers across profiles will tune-in to see live action from London. Olympics should get almost double the reach as compared to last edition," he added.

MUMBAI: The tension between sports ministry and Hockey India was resolved Monday following the former?s clearance of preparatory camp for the 2012 London Olympics to be held at Sports Authority of India centre in Bangalore starting Tuesday.

?The camp will begin in Bangalore tomorrow. We have also got approval on LTDP from the Sports Ministry,? Batra told reporters after a Steering Committee meeting of the Ministry.

The ministry, which also approved hockey?s Long Term Development Programme (LTDP) till Olympics, said that it was HI which had changed the dates of the camp in order to scuttle the World Series Hockey, an IHF initiative.

Batra refused to answer questions on the fate of players who are playing in the unsanctioned league.

?I don?t want to say anything on that. Let the camp begin tomorrow and see who are the players who report to the camp,? he said.

Batra also revealed that HI has got in-principal approval for the India-Pakistan series. ?In principle we have got the permission, but we are yet to get permission from the Home and External Affairs ministry,? he said.

NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan have been traditional rivals, whether it was in hockey, cricket, or in the battlefield. And yet, the people of these two countries are closest to each other in their cultural and culinary practices.

Taking advantage of this, NDTV Good Times is launching a competition among the chefs of the two countries in a new series called ?Foodistan? from 23 January. The show will air every Monday to Wednesday from 9.30 pm.

This Indo-Pak battle for culinary supremacy will feature 15 professional chefs in 26 episodes, and their food preparations will be judged by a three-member jury comprising HT Media editorial director Vir Sanghvi; celebrity British chef Merrilees Parker, and Sonya Jehanis who is a Bollywood actress of Pakistan and French descent.

All the chefs - eight from India and seven from Pakistan - are already known for their work in various hotels in India and Pakistan. The series will be presented by the Aly Khan with Ira Dubey.

Sanghvi said this was the first reality show of its kind on any English television channel, and the most expensive show on NDTV Good Times.

He admitted that getting visas for the chefs from Pakistan had been a problem and had taken longer than expected.

Contrary to common perception, Pakistani food was not necessarily like Indian food, he said.

NDTV Lifestyle CEO Smeeta Chakrabarti told indiantelevision.com on the sidelines of the show launch announcement that the channel had partnered with Geo Channel of Pakistan to get some shots from that country. The programme is in English and a smattering of Hindi and Urdu.

MUMBAI: After cricket and hockey, Sahara Group chairman Subroto Roy is showing new interest in a sport that is evolving in India: Formula One motor racing.

Sahara, which owns the Pune franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and sponsors the Indian cricket team, has bought 42.5 per cent stake in Vijay Mallya-owned Force India, the country?s first F1 team, for $100 million.

The team will be renamed Sahara Force India.

Mallya?s UB group will also own an equal stake in the motor racing team while the remaining 15 per cent will be with the Mol family.

In 2007, Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol had acquired for around 90 million Euros the Spyker Formula One team, which was suffering losses at that time. The team was later rechristened Force India.

In a joint press conference today, India.

In a joint press conference today, Mallya and Sahara said both of them are very happy about the deal and that Mallya will remain the Team Principal.

On 30 October, India will for the first time host Grand Prix at the 120,000-capacity Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, UP.

Mallya, who runs a profitable liquor outfit, needs to find cash to rescue his ailing Kingfisher Airlines business. He also owns the Bangalore franchise of the IPL.

The Sahara group had acquired the Pune franchise of the cash-rich IPL last year for $370 million. It is also the main sponsor of the national cricket team.

Force India is ranked sixth in the Formula One constructor?s standings with 48 points in the current season. The current drivers of the team are German Adrian Sutil and Britain?s Paul Di Resta.