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Booming 'super' league culture makes India's sports market sizzle
Boxing, badminton, poker, pool — every sport imaginable is rebranding in India as a “super” or “pro” franchise-based competition chasing a slice of an emerging billion-dollar entertainment market dominated by cricket's Indian Premier League.
The star-studded Twenty20 tournament has inspired a raft of glitzy new sports leagues seeking to replicate the winning formula that recently landed India's most popular sporting event a bumper $2.55 billion broadcast deal.
Earlier this month Rupert Murdoch's Star India beat rival bids from Facebook, Sony and India's Airtel to land the IPL's TV and digital rights over five years from 2018.