Karan rocks
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Ten Sports could run into trouble with ICC over TV rights
The Indian Cricket League (ICL) is long extinct but the unofficial Twenty20 tournament, started by the Essel Group in 2007, could come back to haunt Ten Sports channel in its effort to bid for the world broadcast rights of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
As is well known, the channel is managed by Essel Group and there could be roadblocks if it wishes to bid for the rights, considered one of the hottest properties in the world of sport what with the winning bid expected to cross $ 1.5 billions.
The Ten bucket has a cricket specific channel (Ten Cricket) and eminently qualifies to bid. It is also the official broadcaster of South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Pakistan and Zimbabwe cricket.
But insiders say the ICC officials are uncomfortable at the prospect of doing business with a party that has a legal litigation with them. In the court cases linked to the ICL, the group was involved in legal battles with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as well as the ICC.
Top officials of the BCCI, which is one of the key components of the ICC's power structures, have confided to this paper that the channel will not be allowed to bid. That a BCCI man is heading the ICC is also not a comforting development for the group as it has had many run-ins with the Indian cricket board.
"It is too early to comment," said Himansu Modi, a top official of the group, and said he is not sure if there will not be objection to their bid. Rajesh Sethi, the CEO of the channel, refused to discuss the matter saying he will make a comment at an appropriate time.
The ICC declined a comment saying it is bound by the confidentiality clause. "Due to the confidential nature of negotiations, the ICC cannot comment on specific stories such as this. As soon as we are in a position to announce something we will do so," an ICC spokesman said.
The ICC has invited bids for the rights for the period between 2015-23. The bids close on September 29. The rights will pre-dominantly be India driven as 70 per cent of the revenue is generated in the country. In the absence of Ten Sports, the key players could be Sony and current holders Star.
But hold on. There could be a surprise player as well. Keep watching this space.
