As the start of the baseball season draws nearer, ELTA TV, available on Chunghwa Telecom’s MOD system, announced a collaboration with MP & Silva to carry 150 Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) games this year.
A company spokesperson on Monday said that the 150 games would be covered live and include the Taiwan Series, the best-of-seven championship at the end of the season.
ELTA is paying NT$20 million (US$660,000) for the 150-game deal, NT$5 million to each of the four CPBL teams — the Uni-President Lions, Chinatrust-Brother Elephants, Lamigo Monkeys and EDA Rhinos.
“Along with the CPBL games, we will also broadcast US Major League Baseball [MLB]. We are providing expanded service for the Taiwanese audience, with two to four MLB games each week, plus live coverage of the CPBL, with the broadcast in Mandarin,” ELTA TV managing director Chen Yi-chun said.
According to the company’s Web site, ELTA provides sports programming in high definition, which is also available to subscribers watching on their smartphones, tablets and PCs.
The CPBL signed a broadcasting agreement with MP & Silva, an international sports media company, in January, a six-year deal worth NT$2.142 billion.
Besides ELTA, MP & Silva has also been in negotiations with FTV, Videoland Sports and other local networks to carry the remainder of this season’s CPBL games.
Earlier this week, MP & Silva announced the company is expanding its presence in the Asia-Pacific region with the opening of a Taiwan office in Taipei. It also appointed a country director and executive producer.
“The availability of expanded CPBL media rights in Taiwan will introduce a new competitive edge to the sports media industry and we believe fans will ultimately benefit from this as the real winners. With an optimistic outlook about the CPBL, we look forward to reaching new heights in partnership with the league,” MP & Silva managing director Beatrice Lee said in a statement.
However, fans have criticized the slow progress made by MP & Silva and the CPBL on the coverage by other networks and are getting anxious, with pre-season exhibition games starting this weekend.
MP & Silva officials yesterday met with CPBL commissioner Hwang Jenn-tai to discuss the progress of the negotiations and said an announcement on further broadcast packages would be made later this week.
Manchester City have confirmed defender Josko Gvardiol suffered a broken leg in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium. Gvardiol was one of two City centerbacks who went off injured in the second half, along with Ruben Dias, before Enzo Fernandez scored a stoppage-time equalizer for the visitors. The draw left second-placed City six points behind English Premier League leaders Arsenal. City, announcing Gvardiol sustained a tibial fracture to his right leg, added in a statement issued on Monday: “The defender will have surgery later this week and assessment remains ongoing to ascertain the full extent of the
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka yesterday got her season off to a winning start for Japan in the United Cup, after the UK’s Emma Raducanu pulled out of their singles clash with a fitness issue, while in Brisbane, Taiwan’s Latisha Chan and Wu Fang-hsien crashed out of the women’s doubles. In Perth, despite Osaka’s win, the UK took the match 2-1 with a deciding mixed doubles victory. Osaka was too strong for reserve and 276th-ranked Katie Swan, winning 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 as Raducanu watched from the sidelines. “I’m proud of how I fought,” Osaka said. “I’d never played here, it was tough.” Britain
Bangladesh will not play their Twenty20 World Cup matches in India after Mustafizur Rahman was released by his Indian Premier League team amid growing tensions between the countries, Bangladesh’s sports adviser Asif Nazrul said on Sunday. Kolkata Knight Riders said on Saturday they had released the Bangladeshi bowler after being told to do so by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Bangladesh are scheduled to play three Twenty20 World Cup matches in Kolkata next month, with the Feb. 7-March 8 tournament being cohosted by India and Sri Lanka. “Bangladesh will not go to India to play the
RSS