Euro 2020, Copa America: "Expecting 25% increase in distribution revenues" says Sony's Rajesh Kaul

Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India says the packed calendar will help the network grow its penetration across the country.

Last year, due to the coronavirus-induced global pandemic, many sporting events got postponed or canceled. Marquee football tournament UEFA Euro 2020 was one of them. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) decided to conduct Euro 2020 in 2021. Top European countries will compete against each other for the prestigious tournament starting on June 12 and concluding on July 12. Along with it, there will be the CONMEBOL Copa America Cup which is a South American Football championship. So, all top teams would be playing in the same month.

Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) is the official broadcaster of both tournaments. The network has recently announced the launch of Ten Sports 4 (SD and HD) which will be available in Tamil and Telugu languages across the southern region of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. SPNI will broadcast UEFA Euro in English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam across India. 24 top European countries participate in the tournament and the matches will start at 6:30 pm (IST), 9:30 pm (IST) and 12:30 pm (IST).

While these are marquee tournaments, unlike Cricket, there are hardly any advertising inventory from the broadcasters to monetise. Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India feels the network will be able to rake in Rs 200 crore of advertising revenue during the tournament.

However, Football as an integral part of the sports offering plays a vital role in driving the distribution of the channels. Kaul sees this packed sports calendar helping the broadcaster find more paying customers across the country, especially South. In an interview with afaqs! Kaul speaks about the new channel launch and how the network plans to broadcast the two popular Football tournaments.

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