Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has recently discussed Rangers’ partnership with Indian broadcasting network Star Sports.
Back in October, it was announced by the Gers that they had signed a ‘landmark’ deal with the Indian broadcaster (per Rangers).
The deal with Star Sports is for coverage of the SPFL as it secured ‘their position as rights holders for the SPFL in the market‘ for the 2020/21 season.
It was also claimed in the club’s statement that there would be a friendly between themselves and Bengaluru FC at Ibrox in the summer of 2021 which will be streamed by Star Sports.
During the latest episode of The Price of Football podcast, Maguire discussed his thoughts on Rangers’ deal.
He said: “I find this intriguing, it’s certainly very left-field from Rangers. Effectively, they’ve come in as a middleman. They bought the Indian rights from the SPFL and then they’ve sold them on to Star Sports.
“Now, whether that’s going to be profitable, we don’t really know. I think Rangers’ master plan is they see Asia as a potential expansion market.
“India is a huge country and it’s a huge potential market. I know, having done some work in connection with India myself, it’s a really tough market to crack for any industry for companies coming from the UK.”
He later explained: “£1300m a year is now coming from international sales [of broadcasting rights] for the Premier League itself; if Rangers can get a fraction of that, then this could be an amazing deal.
“My concern is will Indian TV consumers – and remember India is a cricket country, not a football country – will they be interested enough in Scottish football?”
TIF Thoughts on what Kieran Maguire said about Rangers’ deal with Star Sports…
As can be seen in what the football finance expert had to say, he believes it could be a good deal for Steven Gerrard’s side, however, its success is not certain.
Will Rangers' deal with Star Sports be successful?
No, seems unlikely to me
Yes, I think it will be
The deal with Star Sports comes as the latest in a series of deals which shows that Rangers are looking to build their brand in India.
Aside from the broadcasting deal, Gerrard’s side announced a ‘strategic partnership’ with Bengaluru FC during the 2019/20 season and have Indian footballer Bala Devi playing in their women’s side currently (per Glasgow Times).
So, it is evident that a greater presence in the nation is a target for the Gers.