Murdoch, Mukesh Ambani team up to promote IPL-style football league

Football is all set to get a major boost in cricket-crazy India after it emerged that Rupert Murdoch and Mukesh Ambani will team up to promote the sport which sees an IPL-style league starting next year. An Economic Times report said that Murdoch’s Star India has bought a one-third stake in a company jointly owned by Ambani’s Reliance Industries and IMG. Star will pay Rs 2,000 crore in a deal that includes equity and broadcast rights for 10 years. IMG already has a Rs 700 crore deal with the AIFF (All India Football Federation) for their marketing and commercial rights. [caption id=“attachment_1183843” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Getty Images[/caption] The move sees an enthusiasm similar to what was seen during the launch of the IPL (Indian Premier League) and the IBL (Indian Badminton League). However, it is the first time a broadcaster has taken a stake in the venture. “Having Star on board as a partner strengthens our efforts and commitment to propel Indian football to its rightful place. We see the launch of the football league as the realisation of a dream of billion plus Indians to experience the most cherished game globally in new ways,” Nita M Ambani, Mukesh’s wife and chairperson of IMG-Reliance was quoted as saying in the report. Uday Shankar, CEO of Star India also said that India was ‘hungry’ for its second sport. There will be eight teams in the league which starts in January next year (Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi, Goa, Delhi, Pune and Bangalore). Each team will have 22 players — 10 of them from overseas, eight from India and four from the local area under 23. IMG-R already announced that they signed former Manchester United striker Louis Saha for the league. Click here to read the full Economic Times report. (Disclosure: The Reliance Group has funded the promoter of Network18, which publishes Firstpost)