DD signs MoU with handball association; willing to share revenue with sports federations

New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) National broadcaster Doordarshan is willing to share the revenue generated through the telecast of sporting events with sports federations after deducting the production cost, said Prasar Bharati chairman Navneet Kumar Sehgal on Friday.

Generating revenue is one of the most difficult tasks for National Sports Federations (NSFs) of lesser-known sports in India, and Prasar Bharati's initiative to telecast their events and share the proceeds could help the federations become self-sufficient to an extent.

"Our revenue model is like, whatever we earn out of showing these sports activities, we will first deduct our production cost. And then (we will) share the revenue with the sports association.

"In this case, we will share the extra revenue with the Handball Association of India," said Sehgal after signing the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Handball Association of India (HAI) to telecast their events on Doordarshan.

"So, this way the sports association also get some revenue. Otherwise, normally, what used to happen was that, except for a few sports, others used to be ignored. But now (we) have a commitment that whatever we earn out of that (telecast), we will first deduct our production cost and the remaining we will share with them (NSFs)." Handball hasn't enjoyed mass support in India despite the sport being quite popular in the hinterlands. Indian handball teams have been competing internationally for a very long time, including at the Asian Games, and DD's move to take it to all corners of the country could help its cause.

"There will be a road map. Our effort is to bring all the Indian sports to the rural area, to the heartland of India. The prime minister is very keen that India should excel in sports and there are a lot of schemes, such as TOPS, Khelo India and many more.

"But the thing is, the visibility of these (lesser-known) sports is not there in the rural areas, particularly rural and semi-urban areas. And Doordarshan has a very big presence in these areas.

"And to make these sports (popular), we have already signed an agreement with Hockey India and we are covering their national championships... and their (Hockey India) League also," added Sehgal.

"We are showing it free of cost to everybody in the country. So, the players are happy that they are being shown in their own village. And secondly, (youngsters) they get encouraged (to take up the sport). That way, the spread of sports will be much easier and faster.

"We have a road map in the sense that, they (NSFs) will give us a calendar for the whole year. And as per the calendar, we will fix our slots and we will show it (events) live." He added that Prasar Bharati is also in talks with the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) to telecast their events.

"We are already in discussion with the Badminton Association of India for their tournaments. We are already in discussion with the golf association... with PGTI.

"And, you know, others (federations) also will come and then we will talk about it. We are also working with the (sports) ministry to bring cricket on our digital platform. We show cricket on DD Sports.

"But we are not able to show it on our digital platform because of the legal issues. That we will sort out... we have requested the government to take it up (with BCCI)." HAI executive director Anandeshwar Pandey said that the signing of the MoU with DD was the beginning of a new era in the sport.

"The MoU is a significant step towards popularising handball at the grassroots and elite levels. The coverage on DD Sports will inspire youth and boost the development of the sport across the country," said Pandey. PTI AM AM AH AH