Zee bags cricket deal for $308m

NEW DELHI, Sep 6: Zee Telefilms has won the right to broadcast cricket matches played in India for the next four years after a bitter fight that saw the stakes eventually crashing the $300 million barrier.
BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya announced at a press conference in Chennai on Saturday that Zee would be given the letter of intent shortly, as soon as they fulfilled certain conditions.
"We will deposit the signing amount ($20 million) within the stipulated time (48 hours)," chairman of Zee Network Subhash Chandra told TOI, shortly after his breakthrough victory. His dogged rival, ESPN-Star Sports (ESS), however, claimed that it was unhappy with BCCI''s decision and insisted that the war was not over yet.
Zee, who had earlier emerged the highest bidder with $260 million, clinched the deal by agreeing to pay up $308 million on Sunday to match ESS''s revised offer made to the tender committee on Saturday.
"This is a dream come true," Chandra said.