MUMBAI: Television moghul Subhash Chandra’s Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) is selling Ten Sports, which he acquired from Dubai-based Abdul Rahman Bukhatir’s Taj Group in 2006, to Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) effectively leaving Indian sports broadcasting to Rupert-Murdoch’s Star and the Japanese conglomerate Sony.
Multiple sources with direct knowledge of the development confirmed that SPN is close to acquire Ten Sports for about Rs 2,000 crore, a deal that will make sports broadcasting in India a duopoly of 21st Century Fox-owned Star India and Japanese giant Sony Corp-owned SPN.
Nimbus-owned Neo Sports, the third player, is very small without any big or significant property under its belt. “ZEE has been looking to sell Ten Sports for some time as Chandra and his son Punit Goenka (MD at ZEE) are not much inclined towards running a loss-making sports business,” a highly placed source in ZEE told ET.
Talks with SPN had started a couple of months back, but in the past few weeks they progressed really fast, the source said. “I think the head office at Japan must have given a go ahead.
The deal is almost done and should be officially announced within the next 3 weeks,” he said. When contacted, a SPN spokesperson said, “As a matter of policy, we choose not to comment on speculation.” Mihir Modi, chief finance & strategy officer at ZEE, declined to comment.
Varun Gupta, managing director at valuation firm Duff and Phelps feels that even if the acquisition as rumoured in the industry circle is true, Sony and Star have been the undisputed top two players in India. He said, “It would be strategically a good move for Sony as it would consolidate its position among the two top players in the sub-continent.”
“I think the deal is good for both parties,” said a senior executive from a sports broadcasting company. “Ten’s long-term content deals (particularly with WWE and other cricket boards) make Sony less reliant on IPL renewal, while ZEE gets rid of a business that has brought down margins and cash to invest in other things.”
Another sports media expert opined, “Ten Sports, though a big brand, never went after rights of sporting properties aggressively after its feud with the BCCI over Indian Cricket league (ICL).
In the past 4 years, the fight for the majority of the rights has always been between Star India, and SPN, which is a clear number two.”
Star India holds telecast rights of BCCI, ICC, Cricket Australia, English Cricket Board, Formula 1, EPL, and tennis grand slams like Wimbledon and French Open, while SPN’s marquee properties include IPL, FIFA, UEFA Euro, NBA, and UFC.
“This deal would also help Sony get a foothold into the African & Middle East markets where TEN has a very good presence,” Gupta added.
With the duopoly, some experts believe that there might be deflation in the price of non-popular or smaller properties and new domestic leagues.
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Source: Economic Times
