International sports media company MP & Silva has acquired the global broadcast rights for the franchise-based Premier League Soccer (PLS).

The new Premier League Soccer will see six franchised city teams competing in a seven week long league tournament in the Indian state of West Bengal. The top four franchises in the league will contest in the semifinals and the final. Kolkata, Barasat, Howrah, Haldia, Durgapur and Siliguri will be the six franchise cities to get a PLS team.

The PLS is organised by the Celebrity Management Group (CMG) and the Indian Football Association (IFA), the governing body of football in the Indian state of West Bengal, has agreed to run the PLS for 30 years.

“We have signed a global media rights deal with MP & Silva, London,” CMG executive director Bhaswar Goswami told Indiantelevision.com. “The deal will slowly build up. There is a minimum guarantee as well as revenue share.”

“We are expecting $5-6 million from sale of commercial rights,” Goswami continued.

The PLS will be broadcasted in at least 50 countries according to Goswami, while the US and Europe will be the key target markets for the league.

“We have a huge Indian population in US and Europe so these are two key markets,” Goswami said.

The PLS will see many top class international footballers and coaches in action. The PLS has roped in Hernán Crespo (Argentina), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Robbie Fowler (England), Augustine “Jay-Jay” Okocha (Nigeria), Juan Pablo Sorín (Argentina) and Robert Pirès (France) in the superstar category called ICON PLAYERS. Each franchise team will get one ICON PLAYER along with several other international players.

The list of PLS coaches include John Barnes (England/Jamaica), Fernando Couto (Portugal), Peter Reid (England), Samson Siasia (Nigeria), Teitur Thordarson (Iceland), Marco Etcheverry (Bolivia), Colin Todd (England), Miloš Rus (Slovenia).

More news and details on the Premier League Soccer (PLS) will be available here at www.chrispd.de and www.facebook.com/cpd81.