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ESPN hits jackpot with Twenty20 Rakes In Rs 200 Crore From Championship
ESPN-Star Sports (ESS), which gambled with an astonishing $1.1-billion bid last year to win the ICC rights for the next eight years, has earned Rs 200 crore from the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup championship alone, which India won on Monday. ESS has received close to Rs 110-115 crore only through advertising sales, which went through the roof for the India-Pakistan final. Ten-second spots for the finals were sold for more than Rs 7.5-10 lakh, making it the highest ever spot rate in the history of Indian cricket. Last time around, when India played Pakistan in the finals in 2003, hosted by Ten Sports, the going rate was Rs 4.5-5.5 lakh for 10 seconds. The rest has come in as distribution monies, with ESS bringing in about Rs 140 crore from July 2007 to March 2008, which include revenues from the NatWest series, ICC Twenty20 championship as well as the upcoming India tour of Australia in December. Considering the three-hour format, restricted spot availability and 50-60 spots, as compared to about 150 spots in a 50-over match, the broadcaster has managed to charge almost double the amount for this series.