Thursday 25th February 2010
ESPN STAR Sports and OneAsia tie up 5-year regional broadcast deal
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:
|
Date |
Tournament |
Venue |
Prize Money |
|
Apr 01 - 04 |
Luxehills Chengdu Open |
Luxehills International CC, Chengdu, China |
US$1,000,000 |
|
Apr 15 – 18 |
Volvo China Open |
Jinji Lake International Golf Club, Suzhou, China |
US$2,500,000 |
|
May 06 – 09 |
GS Caltex Maekyung Open |
Namseoul CC, Seoul, South Korea |
KRW1,000,000,000 |
|
Jun 17 – 20 |
Seoul Open |
Seoul, South Korea |
KRW1,000,000,000 |
|
Jul |
New Event TBA |
TBA |
US$1,000,000 |
|
Sep 30 – Oct 3 |
Thailand Open |
Bangkok, Thailand |
US$1,000,000 |
|
Oct 07 – 10 |
Kolon-Hana Bank Korea Open |
Woo Jeoung Hills CC, Seoul, South Korea |
|
|
Oct 14 – 17 |
Midea China Classic |
Royal Orchid International GC, Shunde, China |
US$1,000,000 |
|
Oct 21 – 24 |
Shandong Gold Cup Championship |
Shandong, China |
US$1,000,000 |
|
Dec 02 - 05 |
Australian Open |
The Lakes, Sydney, Australia |
US$1,300,000 |
|
Dec 09 - 12 |
Australian PGA Championship |
Hyatt Regency, Coolum, Australia |
US$1,300,000 |
