Augusta, 04 April: Indian viewers will be able to watch the Masters on DSport. There is renewed interest in India with the presence of Shubhankar Sharma in the 88 strong field of the event this week. It is understood that the channel, owned by Discovery Communications will broadcast the four-day event live starting tomorrow night.
While the Masters is played from 05 – 08 April, the television listing shows 06th through 09th April, owing to time zone differences and broadcast hours. The first round broadcast will begin at 1230am IST on Friday (intervening night of Thursday and Friday).
While the first three rounds will all start at 1230am, the final round will begin an hour earlier, on the stroke of midnight on Sunday night.
DSport had also been the home of golf telecast last year during the Open Championship in July and the PGA Championship in August.
The special invitation for Shubhankar has garnered global attention and created a heightened sense of anticipation in India. In his debut at the Masters, the young Indian could achieve an unimaginable feat if he can go on to win.
Only Horton Smith and Gene Sarazen in the first two editions of the Masters (1934 & !935) and Fuzzy Zoeller (1979) have managed to win the event in their first appearance. Jordan Spieth came close in 2014 before settling for second behind two time Masters champion Bubba Watson.
DSport is owned by Discovery Networks Asia Pacific and is making increasing investments in the Indian market. They also have exclusive deals with Major League Soccer, the premier football league in the USA, horse racing from around the world and the Laver Cup that started in 2017.
But DSport is not participating in the current broadcast auction process of the BCCI for cricket related rights around the world. There are only three participants in that process – Star Sports, the incumbent owner of the rights, Sony Pictures India Network and Reliance Group-owned Jio Infocom.
