STAR Sports 2 Launches in India

NEW DELHI: ESPN STAR Sports has expanded its bouquet with STAR Sports 2, which is being launched especially for the Indian sub-continent.

The channel, which makes its official debut on March 11, will be the sixth channel launched by ESPN STAR Sports in India, joining STAR Sports, STAR Cricket, STAR Cricket HD, ESPN and ESPN HD.

STAR Sports 2 will feature line and recorded events across such sports as cricket, soccer, tennis, motor racing and golf. In the first months of launch, the channel will cover tournaments like Serie A and Li Liga soccer BPL action, Nascar racing and tennis from the Men’s ATP Tour.

Sanjay Gupta, the COO of STAR India, said, "Our vision is to expand the sports viewership in the country. STAR network has acquired some of the best sporting properties in every genre and is committed to taking sports broadcasting to a new level. These include broadcast rights to the BCCI national and domestic Cricket for 6 years; broadcast rights of Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A and English FA Cup and England international matches.

"Apart from exciting live content, we are also innovating in the way we present sports. Our brand-new Hindi presentation on the live cricket broadcast allows audiences to enjoy the game in their preferred language, which was very well received by viewers. Similarly our recent launch www.starsports.com enables us to engage with passionate cricket fans like never before, and we are delighted with the site’s ramp up in the last two months.

"The launch of our new channel STAR Sports 2 is an extension of the same strategy. It allows us to broadcast a wide array of sports content across channels, and cater to multiple live events simultaneously. STAR Sports 2 will further our commitment towards continued, effective and unprecedented coverage of all major events which are of interest to a diverse set of audience across the country."