Yahoo! India–ESPN STAR Sports tie up for SMS-based interactivity

ESPN STAR Sports and Yahoo! India have entered into a strategic partnership for cross-media SMS interactivity and promotion across channels starting with the IndianOil Asia Cup on July 16, informed an official release.

Considering the large usage of SMS-based contests for various sports properties owned by ESPN STAR Sports, this tie-up would add substantial value to all mobile subscribers and provide a big reason for them to SMS to the Yahoo!, read the release.

RC Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN Software India was quoted as saying: “IndianOil Asia Cup will mark the beginning of a landmark initiative by our company, the simultaneous telecast of Hindi and English programming.”

Building on synergies of ESPN STAR Sports’ coverage and content and Yahoo! India’s multifunction SMS architecture, the service would provide real-time, interactive coverage through the Asia Cup. The service would enable mobile subscribers to get real-time scores and access customised content like polls, exclusive contests, trivia etc by sending SMS to 8243.

Neville Taraporewalla, Country Head, Yahoo! India, mentioned, “Yahoo! India has always been a popular destination for cricket lovers. Our association with ESPN STAR Sports is a step forward in providing high-definition SMS content over our Yahoo! short code 8243. This alliance now gives subscribers access to the next generation cricket content on their handsets.”

He was further quoted as saying: The use of Yahoo’s SMS backbone in providing content from IndianOil Asia Cup and then moving on to other exciting sports properties in the future demonstrates the continually widening range of possible applications in the wireless space for the benefit of our viewers.”