The UK telecast rights of the first ever Masters Champions League cricket tournament are still yet to be sold.
The event, which kicks off on 28th January, will be shown in India on Sony Pictures Networks’ channel Sony SIX. It was rumoured that the broadcaster would also acquire the rights for the UK territory but up until now, a UK broadcaster is yet to be named. An announcement was expected last weekend but to no avail. In Pakistan, the rights have been sold to PTV, while SuperSport will provide coverage in Africa and Ten Sports holds the rights for the Middle East region.
The MCL has also secured, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the current captain of the Indian national cricket team as the brand ambassador. Six teams will take part in the tournament led by an Icon Player and each team has been named after zodiac signs, such as Libra, Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo, Capricorn and Leo.
The first MCL match has been scheduled with two former teammates, Sourav Ganguly from Libra Legends and Virender Sehwag from Gemini Arabians, leading their teams to play against each other at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS). Iconic players like Brian Lara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Adam Gilchrist, Paul Collingwood, Brett Lee, Jacques Kallis, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara among others have also been drafted in the MCL teams . The final match of the MCL will also be staged at the DICS on 13th February 2016.
UK broadcasters are also gearing up for the upcoming Pakistan Super League and Asia Cup 2016, both starting in the coming weeks. BizAsia has learned that a close-knit bidding war has been taking place between broadcasters for the two lucrative tournaments.
Keep it with BizAsia for further developments.
