Asia’s leading sports broadcaster, ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) on Friday announced a new long-term deal for the exclusive rights to broadcast TNA Wrestling across the Indian subcontinent including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives.

With this deal, TNA will return to STAR Sports starting September 3rd and the heart-stopping action continues with the two popular TNA programs ‘TNA iMPACT!’ & ‘TNA Xplosion’ every week and big, special blockbuster events each month.

TNA iMPACT! The flagship show from TNA Wrestling, will air on STAR Sports on Thursdays at 6 pm. The 2-hour show features new and exclusive action-packed fights each week, as well as behind the scenes looks. On Wednesdays at 6 pm, STAR Sports will broadcast ‘TNA Xplosion’, featuring highlights as well as exclusive matches between key wrestlers. This explosive action will be topped up with blockbuster fights in special TNA events featuring some of the most innovative and riveting themes in wrestling each month. Wrestling fans will also get their fill of classic matches from the history of TNA, with ESPN STAR Sports’ specially produced original programming every week.

TNA fans can now look to never before opportunities to experience TNA action as ESPN STAR Sports announced plans to bring leading TNA Wrestlers to the subcontinent on yearly promotional tours. Fans will also get a chance to fly to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida and get up-close and personal with the TNA stars through special consumer contests that ESS and TNA plan to launch.

For wrestling fans who are more interested in the wrestling action than just the skits and stories, TNA has been a breath of fresh air and has fast become the destination of choice. Fans believe TNA consistently excels at showcasing the best wrestling action between highly skilled performers, with well-matched contests that are not as one-sided as in some other professional wrestling. TNA believes in allowing wrestlers to really showcase their wrestling talent. Featuring the innovative six-sided ring and the high flying X-Division, as well as concept matches such as “Ultimate X,” “King of the Mountain,” “Six Sides of Steel,” “Lethal Lockdown” and “Elevation X,” considered the most dangerous match in professional wrestling, TNA Wrestling delivers a distinct brand of high-risk, athletic entertainment featuring some of the biggest names in wrestling today, such as Kurt Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash and Christian Cage, as well as the hottest new stars in the business: A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, The Latin American Xchange and the Motor City Machineguns.

TNA’s Indian fans have keenly followed the exploits of Sonjay Dutt in the 6-sided ring. The “Original Playa from the Himalaya,” Sonjay Dutt has been a mainstay within TNA’s X Division and his high-flying maneuvers have garnered him many wins throughout his time in TNA. His Hindu Press finishing maneuver has thrilled fans for years and has left nearly all of his opponents defeated. Recently, Dutt found his “inner peace” as a competitor and now calls himself “The Guru.”

TNA Wrestling joins STAR Sports’ action packed calendar for wrestling and fight fans with K-1 featuring fight events which mix various martial arts from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Kickboxing, traditional Boxing, and many more to select the single best stand-up fighter in the world.

About ESPN STAR Sports

ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world’s leading cable and satellite broadcasters. As Asia’s definitive and complete sports broadcaster and content provider, ESPN STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its ultimate parent companies ? Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) ? to deliver a diverse array of international and regional sports to viewers via its encrypted pay and free-to-air services.

ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier live sports from around the globe 24 hours a day to a cumulative reach of more than 310 million viewers in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports has 17 networks covering 24 countries, each localised to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN Asia, ESPN China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN Singapore, ESPN Taiwan, MBC-ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports Singapore, STAR Sports Southeast Asia, STAR Sports Taiwan, and STAR Cricket.

On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia. ESPN STAR Sports aims to reach consumers at any time, any place and through all new media platforms, both internet and mobile. The multi-lingual, online platforms, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw and footballcrazy.tv interact with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions. Developed for the sports fan that is constantly on the move, mobileESPN and STAR Sports Mobile delivers differentiated mobile content targeted at its various audiences. mobileESPN enables the serious sports fan to follow their favourite sports more closely than ever before with a combination of specially produced video news clips, in-depth news coverage and analysis. STAR Sports Mobile aims to provide interactive and entertaining opportunities to engage with sports, delivering exclusive video excerpts from leading football clubs Arsenal and Liverpool as well as highlights from STAR Sports original programmes covering opinions, instructional tips and the latest online game reviews.