Sony Pictures Networks bags 2022 Asian Games broadcasting rights in Indian subcontinent

The Asian Games are set to return this year and big things are expected from the event. In September 2015, it was decided that Hangzhou would host the 2022 Asian Games and become only the third Chinese city in history to do so after Beijing (1990) and Guangzhou (2010).

For India, one of the only seven countries to participate in every edition of the competition, this tournament is all the more special since their medal tally has been experiencing a healthy rise over the last decade. So broadcasting this event is one of the most profitable ventures, especially since it is held every four years.

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Sony Pictures Networks secures 2022 Asian Games broadcasting rights

Sony Pictures Networks has created quite a brand for itself since it was founded in 1995. Over the last two-and-a-half decades, they have telecast famous European football competitions, a number of cricketing tournaments, PGA golf, NBA, baseball, and several other sporting spectacles. In 2020, they also broadcasted the Tokyo Olympics in the Indian subcontinent.

They held the rights for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, and will do the same this year. This will see Sony Pictures Networks telecast the 19th edition of the mega event on all its linear channels and OTT platform Sony Liv. The agreement with the Olympic Council of Asia spans from November 2021 to September 2023 and covers India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, and the Maldives.

These rights will also allow them to telecast clips and highlights throughout the tenure of this deal. But there is more than one reason why Sony Pictures Networks decided to retain the rights.

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Viewership and introduction of multiple new verticals

Although the 2010 and 2014 editions only had 32.6 million and 40.9 million viewers respectively, the 2018 Asian Games saw a massive jump as 112 million people viewed the two-week event.

To put this into context, the continental competition garnered more viewership than the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which is arguably the biggest sporting event in the world of football. Furthermore, the 2018 Asian Games also had nearly six times the viewership of the much-watched Wimbledon tennis tournament.

Moreover, viewership, specifically in India, is likely to increase this year, after the successful medal tally of the nation at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (which got delayed by a year due to COVID-19). Then again, other countries in the subcontinent are just as avid viewers of events that combine entertainment and sporting brilliance.

On top of this, cricket has been added back following its absence in the 2018 edition, in keeping with the decision taken at the OCA's general assembly in Bangkok in 2019. So the 2022 edition will include 40 sports, including swimming, archery, athletics, badminton, equestrian, fencing, football, hockey, judo, kabaddi. Esports and Breakdancing are also set to debut at this year's Asian Games.

As such, existing interest in the grand event, coupled with the introduction of other verticals, is likely to benefit Sony Pictures Network.

It also bodes well for them that they signed "definitive agreements" to merge Zee "with and into" Sony. The deal could see them become a massive entertainment cable and provide competition to the Disney Star Network as well as other digital players like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. Sony already broadcasts through 26 television channels while Zee has 66 channels under their wing, and both have widely-established OTT platforms as well in Sony Liv and Zee5.

Overall, the 2022 Asian Games are expected to be a massive success, and alongside Sony Pictures Networks, they could go on to break more viewership records be a more celebrated tournament than ever.