Singapore, 6 July 2010 – Watching sports will never be the same again as ESPN STAR Sports, Asia’s biggest sports content provider, launched ESPN Player, providing consumers with on-demand access to international world-class sports content, while offering an engaging online experience.

Launched in Singapore with SingTel, one of Asia’s leading communications groups, the brand new revolutionary broadband service is the region’s first online multi-sports service to combine video, scores, and community within a single interactive experience. ESPN Player provides fans on-demand online access to world-class sports and programming, and brings fans closer to the excitement by giving them control to decide what, where, when and how they want to watch their favourite sports.

Offering both live and library events throughout the year, ESPN Player delivers sports programming available online to fans through a rich, interactive, easy-to-use experience and access to the sports action with in-game statistics and scoreboards. In addition, this unique offering will also give consumers an exciting opportunity to watch their favourite sport while sharing comments with their friends on social networking platforms like Facebook.

In addition, ESPN STAR Sports launched two new channel offerings in ESPN HD in South East Asia and Taiwan, each localised to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to their respective markets. ESPN HD harnesses top quality content from ESPN STAR Sports’ stellar line-up of premier international sports content in a format which promises to enhance viewers’ overall experience like no other. The launch on 1 July saw the Wimbledon Championship being shown in high-definition in Asia for the first time on ESPN HD.

Said Mr Manu Sawhney, Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports, “We are driven with a single-minded aim to serve sport fans across the region by creating new, relevant and innovative offerings for them to engage with their favourite sports. Over the last few years, we have brought many such offerings to fans across the region and today, I am very pleased to announce the launch of ESPN Player and ESPN HD, which is a testament to our continued commitment to enrich the viewing experience of sport fans, and to set new benchmarks in sports consumption across the region.”

ESPN Player kicked off its launch on 1 July, showcasing a wide variety of live matches, highlights and a library of archived Wimbledon Championship content. This month, ESPN Player will feature Formula One’s British Grand Prix (10-11 July), German Grand Prix (24-25 July) and Hungarian Grand Prix (31 July-1 August). In addition, ESPN Player will showcase The Open Championship (15-18 July) and offer additional LIVE coverage from other holes on the course on demand. ESPN Player will also offer exclusive content such as the friendly match between Manchester United and the Major League Soccer (MLS) All Stars on 29 July. Fans can also look forward to watching the Community Shield (8 Aug), NCAA Football (from Sept), FA Cup (from Nov) and NCAA Basketball (from Nov), and the current Superbike World Championship, MotoGP World Championship and The One Asia Tour on ESPN Player.

ESPN HD sport programming will next feature The Open Championship (15 -19 July), the US Women’s Open (9-12 July), The One Asia Tour, Major League Baseball and the MotoGP World Championship amongst others.

ESPN Player and ESPN HD will be soon launched in other Asian markets in the upcoming months.

ESPN STAR Sports’ mobileESPN will showcase live streaming content from its television networks, delivered via satellite to operators’ streaming platforms across the region. SpeedCast will provide technical services using SpeedCast’s MobiCast™ platform to stream top-class live sports events, such as the FIA Formula One, MotoGP, and the English Football Association (FA) Cup.

Said Adam Zecha, ESPN STAR Sports’ Executive Vice-President, Head of Sales for SEA: “We are delighted to work with SpeedCast as this presents a great opportunity for us to deliver the premium live sports content to fans wherever they are. SpeedCast’s extensive reach across the region and expertise with mobile content delivery will play a key role in our goal to maximize the availability of world-class premier sports programming, engage sport fans beyond our broadcast channels, and expand our audience demographic across Asia.”

Pierre-Jean Beylier, Chief Executive Officer of SpeedCast Ltd added, “We are thrilled to welcome ESPN STAR Sports to our portfolio of premium digital content providers to distribute their content across Asia. SpeedCast’s expertise in the secure delivery of premium digital content in key markets across Asia-Pacific will help ESPN STAR Sports save both time and resources, and help them to expand their broadcast reach in new regions in Asia and with new delivery channels.”

SpeedCast will provide the channel downlink, live encoding and delivery services as well as 24/7 monitoring and operations out of its world-class Network Operations Centre and teleport facilities in Hong Kong.

SpeedCast, a leading digital media content service provider in Asia, will support ESPN STAR Sports for its encoding requirements and distribution of the channel in the Asia Pacific region. Dealing with more than 50 international and local channels, SpeedCast is a recognized and reliable partner for TV channels looking for expansion into Asia, offering a one-stop solution with post-production, broadcast and distribution services.

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Baseball fans can look forward to more of the best MLB action with at least one MLB game every day on ESPN STAR Sports: fans in Taiwan will be able to catch up to 10 regular season games live each week, while viewers in Hong Kong and South-east Asia will be able to watch up to seven live games per week on its networks from 21 June. The deal also includes the MLB All-Star Game, State Farm Home Run Derby and XM All-Star Futures Game – highlights of Major League Baseball All-Star Week festivities – as well as postseason coverage, including all four best-of-five Division Series, the two best-of-seven League Championship Series, and the crown jewel of the MLB Championship Season, the World Series.

Said Manu Sawhney, Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports: “This renewal reinforces our longstanding relationship with MLB since its first broadcast on our networks in 1995. Highlighted by the growing passion for this sport in Asia, we are pleased to showcase more MLB games than ever before on our networks through the 2013 season, especially at a time when Asian players are enjoying unprecedented success with some of the best teams in MLB. As Asia’s biggest sports broadcaster, this is another step in our commitment to deliver the best sporting action from around the world to our viewers.”

Said Paul Archey, Senior Vice President, International Business Operations, Major League Baseball: “We have enjoyed a long relationship with ESPN STAR Sports and we are delighted to extend this partnership through the 2013 MLB season. We have seen the popularity of Major League Baseball increase in Asia over the past decade and we are proud to be working with an organization that is committed to the growing interest in baseball. ESPN STAR Sports’ strong presence in the region has proven invaluable and they continue to be the ideal broadcast partner for MLB games across Asia.”

ESPN STAR Sports will broadcast live games in English across the region, as well as produce games with Mandarin and Cantonese commentary for broadcasts in Taiwan and Hong Kong, respectively. Baseball fans in Hong Kong and South-east Asia can also catch daily highlights rounding up the MLB action on “Baseball Tonight”. In Taiwan, viewers can enjoy ESPN STAR Sports’ studio presentation of live MLB games as well as ”Baseball Tonight” in Mandarin, providing comprehensive analysis of MLB games for baseball fans every weekday.

Nearly 30 percent of all players on MLB rosters are born outside of the United States and baseball is more popular around the world than ever before. Asian players continue to star in the Major Leagues, including Japan’s Daisuke Matsuzaka (Boston Red Sox), Hideki Matsui (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) and Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle Mariners); South Korea’s Chan Ho Park (New York Yankees) and Shin Soo Choo (Cleveland Indians); and Taiwan’s Chien-Ming Wang (Washington Nationals) and Hong-Chi Kuo (Los Angeles Dodgers).

The addition of the SBK Superbike World Championship adds to an exciting list of motorsport events on ESPN STAR Sports, including the Formula One, GP2, World Touring Car Championship, Inter Continental Rally, MotoCross, SuperMoto and MotoGP.

The television broadcast agreement includes live and delayed races as well as race highlights and will reach Superbike fans across the region including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.

Said Mr. Craig Dobbs, Executive Vice President, Programming and Production: “We are delighted to extend our partnership with Superbike to continue showcasing the best of motorsport to fans in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports is Asia’s home for motorsports and with our stellar line-up of leading sports events, this new partnership underscores our commitment to serve our viewers with top quality sport programming.”

Stephan Herth, Infront’s Executive Director Summer Sports, said: “The agreement with ESPN STAR Sports further increases the oureach of the most exciting motorbike action available in Asia. It will benefit the manufacturers, teams and all commercial partners. We have worked hard to enhance the quality, range and servicing of our broadcast agreements for WorldSBK step by step over the past three years and we will continue to do so.”

The broadcast of the SBK Superbike World Championships began with the round held in Kyalami, South Africa on 14 – 16 May.

Wolff said, “As the media landscape expands, ESPN will continue to innovate and remain at the cutting edge of serving fans wherever they are and whatever device they carry. Tom brings a blend of business intelligence, content know-how, technical understanding and leadership to the job, which will help us find ways to creatively serve fans and effectively monetize our content and services across mediums.”

Added Gleeson, “Digital media crosses boundaries and borders in the same way that passion for sport does. I am looking forward to continuing the growth and innovation of our global sites, services and social connection to fans through digital media,” said Gleeson.

Gleeson joined ESPN in 2007, when the global sports media company acquired Cricinfo, where he served as Chief Executive.

In his new role, Gleeson will be charged with working closely with ESPN’s regional managing directors around the world to develop digital businesses in their regions, as well as working with management for ESPNDeportes (the company’s Spanish-language business in the U.S.).

Gleeson will also work closely with John Kosner, senior vice president, ESPN digital media, and John Zehr, senior vice president, ESPN Mobile – who oversee the company’s U.S. digital businesses – as they collaborate to build further cross-border efficiency, innovation and opportunity across digital platforms.

In recent years, Gleeson has overseen the growth in quality and traffic of sites and services throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India.  Under his stewardship, ESPN’s international Web sites – including ESPNcricinfo, ESPNscrum, ESPNsoccernet, ESPNF1, ESPNF1– saw marked growth and continued technology and content advancement.  Those sites, along with ESPN.com.br, ESPN.com.au and ESPNDeportes.com – have grown to reach more than 17 million users each month around the world. 

ESPN mobile web services corresponding with ESPN sites have seen dramatic growth, reaching millions of on-the-go sports fans each month, led by ESPNcricinfo mobile (visits up 211 percent, year-on-year), ESPNsoccernet mobile (up 197 percent) and ESPN Deportes mobile (up 87 percent).  Additionally, the company is active in mobile video, application development and mobile alerts and messaging. The company recently announced the acquisition of  Barclay’s Premier League mobile highlight rights in the U.K.

Since 2007, ESPN has also launched broadband services delivering live and on-demand sports video reaching dozens of countries across Europe (ESPN Player), Latin America and Brazil (ESPN360) and Australia (ESPN360), building on the success of ESPN’s U.S. broadband service (ESPN3). 

Prior to joining ESPN, Gleeson worked as chief executive officer of The Wisden Group, owners of ESPNCricinfo, in London from 2004 to 2007. He also previously held executive positions at Dennis Publishing, IFG Magazines and John Brown Publishing.

A native of London, Gleeson attended Kingston University where he graduated in 1996 with an MBA.

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ESPN STAR Sports’ “What is Cricket” aims to build on last year’s efforts to bring the marquee Twenty20 international cricket closer to fans in Europe with 5-min promotional clips that introduces key elements of the sport and what makes the ICC World Twenty20 so exciting to watch to new fans and viewers. The campaign will be telecast across 56 territories across Eurosport Group’s broadcast footprint.

ESPN STAR Sports and Eurosport Group have also collaborated to increase the number of languages the event is broadcast in to 15, including Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, English, French, German, Swedish, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian and Turkish. Eurosport Group will broadcast 23 matches, including 14 live games, from the ICC World Twenty20 held on 30 April to 16 May. All games will also be available live and on-demand on Eurosport Player, Eurosport’s online pay-TV service.

ESPN STAR Sports’ Managing Director Manu Sawhney said: “We’re very pleased to continue our partnership with Eurosport Group to showcase the ICC World Twenty20 event across continental Europe. This event enjoys a strong following across the region and we’re committed to build on that popularity further with the ‘What is Cricket?’ campaign together with the ICC and Eurosport Group.

“This unique educational campaign builds on the ICC World Twenty20’s growing appeal after last year’s efforts to localize the event, and will go a long way in taking the game to new heights in the continent and bringing in new audiences for the future.”

Mr Haroon Lorgat, ICC Chief Executive Officer, said: “This is encouraging news in the lead up to the ICC World Twenty20. We are very pleased to have such a committed partner in ESPN STAR Sports and are heartened with their innovative efforts to extend the reach of the event across Europe. The educational campaign will certainly heighten the profile of the sport in Europe and we are pleased that viewers across the continent will be so well served by this multi-language coverage of the event with EuroSport.”

Said Laurent-Eric Le Lay, Chairman and CEO, Eurosport Group: “We’re delighted with the partnership between ESPN STAR Sports and the ICC. We’re looking forward to delivering the ICC World Twenty20 in best way possible to our fans in Europe so they can enjoy the event in all its glory. This is one of the year’s biggest cricket event and we’re confident that this new educational campaign, combined with broadcasting the event in more languages, will raise the bar in terms of reaching more fans.”

ESPN STAR Sports’ commitment to broaden the popularity of the sport has also ensured that the year’s biggest cricket spectacle will be televised in many new and emerging markets around the globe, in addition to traditional cricketing nations; having secured multi-year and multi-platform distribution deals with leading broadcast and telecommunication media organizations for the ICC World Twenty20 across 179 territories.

Furthermore, ESPN STAR Sports will showcase the event with its world-class production and presentation package, having lined-up many engaging and entertaining production initiatives, including a specialist commentary team for all the matches featuring international cricketing legends and experts from top cricket-playing nations.

ESPN STAR Sports’ “What is Cricket” aims to build on last year’s efforts to bring the marquee Twenty20 international cricket closer to fans in Europe with 5-min promotional clips that introduces key elements of the sport and what makes the ICC World Twenty20 so exciting to watch to new fans and viewers. The campaign will be telecast across 56 territories across Eurosport Group’s broadcast footprint.

ESPN STAR Sports and Eurosport Group have also collaborated to increase the number of languages the event is broadcast in to 15, including Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, English, French, German, Swedish, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian and Turkish. Eurosport Group will broadcast 23 matches, including 14 live games, from the ICC World Twenty20 held on 30 April to 16 May. All games will also be available live and on-demand on Eurosport Player, Eurosport’s online pay-TV service.

ESPN STAR Sports’ Managing Director Manu Sawhney said: “We’re very pleased to continue our partnership with Eurosport Group to showcase the ICC World Twenty20 event across continental Europe. This event enjoys a strong following across the region and we’re committed to build on that popularity further with the ‘What is Cricket?’ campaign together with the ICC and Eurosport Group.

“This unique educational campaign builds on the ICC World Twenty20’s growing appeal after last year’s efforts to localize the event, and will go a long way in taking the game to new heights in the continent and bringing in new audiences for the future.”

Mr Haroon Lorgat, ICC Chief Executive Officer, said: “This is encouraging news in the lead up to the ICC World Twenty20. We are very pleased to have such a committed partner in ESPN STAR Sports and are heartened with their innovative efforts to extend the reach of the event across Europe. The educational campaign will certainly heighten the profile of the sport in Europe and we are pleased that viewers across the continent will be so well served by this multi-language coverage of the event with EuroSport.”

Said Laurent-Eric Le Lay, Chairman and CEO, Eurosport Group: “We’re delighted with the partnership between ESPN STAR Sports and the ICC. We’re looking forward to delivering the ICC World Twenty20 in best way possible to our fans in Europe so they can enjoy the event in all its glory. This is one of the year’s biggest cricket event and we’re confident that this new educational campaign, combined with broadcasting the event in more languages, will raise the bar in terms of reaching more fans.”

ESPN STAR Sports’ commitment to broaden the popularity of the sport has also ensured that the year’s biggest cricket spectacle will be televised in many new and emerging markets around the globe, in addition to traditional cricketing nations; having secured multi-year and multi-platform distribution deals with leading broadcast and telecommunication media organizations for the ICC World Twenty20 across 179 territories.

Furthermore, ESPN STAR Sports will showcase the event with its world-class production and presentation package, having lined-up many engaging and entertaining production initiatives, including a specialist commentary team for all the matches featuring international cricketing legends and experts from top cricket-playing nations.

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10 March 2010, Singapore: The Formula One on ESPN STAR Sports is well set to draw huge interest from Asian fans yet again with many new developments that highlight the sport’s growing prominence and popularity leading up to the inaugural race of 2010, with the Bahrain Grand Prix flagging off this weekend live on STAR Sports. 

The sport looks to receive a major boost with aficionados keenly anticipating the return of the most successful F1 driver in Michael Schumacher. The seven-time world champion recently came out of retirement to join Mercedes GP PETRONAS and is expected to be a major draw for viewers in 2010. In addition, motorsport fans across the region would be looking forward to the addition of a seventh Grand Prix venue in Asia with the inaugural Korean Grand Prix in October, increasing the calendar to 19 races with the return of the Canadian Grand Prix after a one-year hiatus. 

The introduction of the new Malaysian-backed Lotus F1 Racing would also garner interest in Malaysia, which drew nearly 3.5 million viewers to STAR Sports’ comprehensive F1 coverage in 2009. In addition, the recent announcement of former ESPN STAR Sports race commentator Karun Chandhok joining the new Hispania Racing team have sent ripples across India as the second Indian driver to compete in Formula One. This, in addition to the steady rise of the Force India team last year, will be sure to give more than 22.6 million viewers in the Indian sub-continent plenty to cheer about this season. 

Matching these major developments, fans can expect ESPN STAR Sports to showcase the 2010 F1 season by delivering extensive coverage of all live qualifying sessions and main races across its television, online and mobile platforms: 

• World-class television coverage: STAR Sports will showcase exclusive live television coverage of all 19 live qualifying sessions and main races in 2010, and will broadcast more than 600 hours of Formula One content in 2010 with comprehensive coverage on its pre and post-race programme, Race Day and Chequered Flag hosted by Paula Malai Ali and Steve Dawson. To bolster its F1 coverage, former Jordan Grand Prix chief designer and technical director Gary Anderson will add his unrivalled technical expertise to the LIVE commentary team comprising veteran race commentator Steve Slater and ex-F1 driver Alex Yoong.  

Another draw would be the F1 broadcast in High-Definition for the first time in Malaysia on ESPN HD. This would be a major attraction for viewers longing to catch the ultimate motorsport championship in unparalleled image and enhanced sound quality, and will be rolled out in other markets where there is demand. 

• Live and authoritative online coverage and video content on www.espnstar.com: Fans can also visit http://www.espnstar.com/motorsport/f1 for online F1 coverage on PETRONAS Live Race Centre featuring lap-by-lap live race coverage and commentary; online video highlights from the races as well as insightful columns by STAR Sports’ presenters and F1 experts. 
• Live races, news & updates on-the-go: For the first time, fans in Indonesia can look forward to catching the Formula One live races on the mobile platform on mobileESPN. In addition, motorsport aficionados across Asia can get Formula One mobile content on the go from mobileESPN, in the form of news, results, driver standings, team standings and the race calendar in English, Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia. 
• F1 Fantasy Online Game: Fans can also visit www.espnstar.com to take part in the F1 Fantasy game and win attractive prizes, as well as a new online game predicting the winners of each race.  

As ESPN STAR Sports enters its 19^th year showcasing the Formula One on its networks, 2010 also sees the continued long-term relationship with PETRONAS as STAR Sports Formula One partner. STAR Sports’ coverage of the F1 drew significant audiences in Asia last year with 53 million in-home viewers* across its broadcast footprint.

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Super Soccer Star is a multi-platform entertainment property and reality show, which aims to discover young football talent in association with the famed Chelsea Football Club.  Under the terms of the deal, ESPN STAR Sports will broadcast the show around the 2010 FIFA World Cup football frenzy on Saturday and Sunday over five weekends during the tournament. 

Twenty contestants aged 13-16 years old will be chosen after trials and live events across the country. They will enter an academy where over a period of weeks, four finalists will be shortlisted. The finalists come to London and are evaluated by Chelsea FC. The winner is titled the Super Soccer Star for the territory of India and wins a training programme at Chelsea’s academy in Cobham. 

Commenting on the agreement, Stephen Green, CEO of Galleon Holdings, said: “Super Soccer Star is a global entertainment brand and we are very proud to be working with ESPN STAR Sports and Media Star Global to discover young talent in a market the size of India.” 

Manu Sawhney, Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports, said, “We are delighted to partner Galleon Holdings PLC and Media Star Global for this exciting new football offering. As the leading sports broadcaster, it is our endeavour to work towards enhancing fans’ experience of their favourite sports in multiple ways. Today, we broadcast more than 230 BPL matches live every season and showcase more than 1500 hours of original programming around football in India to supplement our live football content and expand fans’ interaction with their favorite sport beyond the live games. 

“We believe that Super Soccer Star will further extend our comprehensive football offering to our viewers and help uncover the budding football talent in India. It will certainly provide an ideal opportunity for young enthusiasts of the sport to showcase their skills on a world famous platform.” 

Wasim Haq, CEO of Media Star Global, added: “Super Soccer Star is India’s first football reality show. It is a family-oriented program that will appeal to sports fans as well as reality TV junkies. Importantly it is a great platform for young talented footballers with prowess, personality and star quality to get noticed and train with the best! We expect the program to attract strong viewership on ESPN, especially as it will air over weekends, during the FIFA World Cup.” 

ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) is the official broadcast partner of 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa and has been showcasing the Barclays Premier League for more than a decade and has elevated the sports’ popularity across the Indian subcontinent. 

Previously, the 2006 FIFA World Cup was watched by over 50 million people in India alone through ESPN STAR Sports’ broadcast, which was a 44% increase over the 2002 FIFA World Cup.  

Galleon Holdings, has aired such programmes successfully in China and Malaysia and format sales have been made for many territories including Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Vietnam.

About ESPN STAR Sports 

ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world’s leading cable and satellite broadcasters. As Asia’s definitive and complete sports broadcaster and content provider, ESPN STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its ultimate parent companies – Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) – to deliver a diverse array of international and regional sports to viewers via its encrypted pay-TV services. 

ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier live sports from around the globe 24 hours a day to a cumulative reach of over 300 million viewers in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports has 19 networks covering 24 countries, each localised to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN SEA, ESPN China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN SEA 2, ESPN Taiwan, MBC-ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports SEA, STAR Sports SEA 2, STAR Sports Taiwan, STAR Cricket, ESPNEWS and ESPN HD. 

On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia. ESPN STAR Sports aims to reach consumers at any time, any place and through all new media platforms, both internet and mobile. The multi-lingual, online platforms, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw interact with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions. Developed for the sports fan that is constantly on the move, mobileESPN enables the serious sports fan to follow their favourite sports more closely than ever before with a combination of specially produced video news clips, in-depth news coverage and analysis.

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25 February 2010, Singapore: Asia’s biggest sports content provider, ESPN STAR Sports, announced today its multi-year regional television broadcast partnership to showcase the new OneAsia golf series, Asia Pacific’s first consolidated professional tournament pathway for elite golfers. 

The partnership comprises an exclusive five-year television agreement to showcase LIVE coverage of OneAsia events across 24 territories across ESPN STAR Sports’ regional footprint in 2010. Golf fans can look forward to catching a growing calendar of golf events on ESPN STAR Sport comprising OneAsia tournaments, which will increase to 23 golf tournaments in 2014. In addition, enthusiasts can also look forward to daily LIVE broadcasts of all OneAsia tournaments and coverage on ESPN STAR Sports’ news programmes SportsCenter and Score Tonight and weekly magazine show Golf Focus. 

“We are delighted to welcome ESPN STAR Sports as our broadcast partner for the next five years,” said OneAsia Chief Executive, Ben Sellenger. “Their commitment to professional golf, as well as their unparalleled platform for showcasing sport across the Asia-Pacific, makes them an ideal partner to grow our events with LIVE, enhanced and focused TV coverage. ESPN STAR Sports’ extensive reach across the region will play a key role in our end goal to maximize elite playing opportunities for Asia-Pacific’s finest.” 

Said ESPN STAR Sports’ Craig Dobbs, Executive Vice President, Programming and Production, “The OneAsia series comprises some of the biggest golf tournaments across the region, and we’re pleased to showcase this new premium golf series across Asia. The Asia-Pacific region continues to be a robust market for golf and this exciting partnership underscores our commitment to serve golf fans and deliver quality programming to our viewers. 

“The OneAsia series adds to a stellar list of golf events on ESPN STAR Sports including golf majors such as The Masters, US Open and The Open Championships well as the PGA Grand Slam of Golf and PGA Euro Pro Tour.” 

The OneAsia tournament schedule has grown to 11 confirmed events after its first year, with most of the events scheduled in 2010 offering a minimum purse of US$1 million. Of the current list of events, ten remain full field OneAsia tournaments purely for the leading golfers in the region, providing players with an alternative pathway to the PGA Tour and the European Tour. 

The OneAsia season will kick off at the Luxehills Chengdu Open in Beijing on 1 April. Kindly refer to the current tournament schedule in 2010, below: 

 About ESPN STAR Sports 

ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world’s leading cable and satellite broadcasters. As Asia’s definitive and complete sports broadcaster and content provider, ESPN STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its ultimate parent companies – Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) – to deliver a diverse array of international and regional sports to viewers via its encrypted pay-TV services. 

ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier live sports from around the globe 24 hours a day to a cumulative reach of over 300 million viewers in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports has 18 networks covering 24 countries, each localised to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN SEA, ESPN China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN SEA 2, ESPN Taiwan, MBC-ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports SEA, STAR Sports SEA 2, STAR Sports Taiwan, STAR Cricket and ESPNEWS. 

On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia. ESPN STAR Sports aims to reach consumers at any time, any place and through all new media platforms, both internet and mobile. The multi-lingual, online platforms, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw interact with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions. Developed for the sports fan that is constantly on the move, mobileESPN enables the serious sports fan to follow their favourite sports more closely than ever before with a combination of specially produced video news clips, in-depth news coverage and analysis. 

About OneAsia 

OneAsia is a non-profit organisation developed to maximize elite tournament opportunities in Asia-Pacific. The Founding members of OneAsia are the China Golf Association, the Korea Golf Tour, the Korea Golf Association and the PGA of Australia. The mission of OneAsia is not just  to allow the region’s best players to gain access to more events, but to ultimately provide them with an alternative pathway to the PGA Tour and the European Tour, thus retaining the best golfing talent in the region without compromising their development.

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