New Delhi, June 7:

ESPN STAR sports, whose brainchild PHL was a huge success early this year, has signed a three year exclusive telecast deal with the Indian Hockey Federation. As per the deal, brokered by the LSM, ESPN STAR sports will broadcast and market what is known as ‘IHF Hockey Package’ for next three years. Important component of the package is telecast of 102 international matches scheduled to be held in India in the period in question.

Speaking on the occasion, R.C. Venkateish, of ESPN Software India informed that the PHL have proven that TV-IHF partnership can be the way to popularize hockey and as such their sport channels are ready to duplicate the success. He also stressed that their role will be more than mere telecasting but also to innovate on hockey telecast, market the hockey players and the sport better. He even spoke of programmes such as ESPN Learning Grounds for schools and others.

Leisure Sports Management, who entered hockey scene in 2001, who bear the maximum brunt of wayward IHF to cement deals with sponsors and television channels, will again be in the thick of things.

The present IHF hurriedly and without purpose and vision stopped the Indira Gandhi Gold Cup in 1996. But could not put in place any alternate international activity despite vague and repeated assurances.

In the last ten years, only a Champions Trophy tournament was held in India.

Against this backdrop, the ESPN STAR Sports deal comes as a whiff of fresh air. This deal rightly aims at tapping the vast unharnessed domestic market for international events.

However, it is to be seen how the IHF responds to the emerging situation. First, it has to convince leading countries to visit India, that too repeatedly, and make a calendar that is practicable and profitable., though involvement of two time tested organizations, ESPN and LSM assures us of the profitable component.

Leave apart the role the IHF is likely to play, the rest seems to be good news for home hockey fans.

More so in the light of the fact that since many years, barring a hurried and ill-timed Indo-Pak Test series, hardly was there any internatinal stuff made available at home.