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Category: Sports

  • MIB mulls IPL telecast on Doordarshan

    MIB mulls IPL telecast on Doordarshan

    MUMBAI: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting may bring the Indian Premier League under the ambit of events of national importance. Therefore, Star India’s coveted cricket property may be telecast simultaneously on public broadcaster Doordarshan.

    According to reports, the ministry is working on a proposal make live matches available on Doordarshan and has asked the sports ministry to look into the matter.

    Currently, the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, the Olympics, and select cricket, hockey, football, and tennis events fall under the ambit of events of national importance.

  • PBL S3 to launch with Saina vs Sindhu match

    PBL S3 to launch with Saina vs Sindhu match

    MUMBAI: The Vodafone Premier Badminton League (PBL) season 3 is just around the corner featuring top Indian and international badminton talent in the world, including eight Olympic Medal Winners.

    The league kicks-off on 23 December 2017 and will go on till 14 January 2018. Guwahati will open the third season. The pan-Indian league will be hosted in five cities this time, with Delhi, Lucknow, Chennai, and Hyderabad being the others. Hyderabad, which is very much Indian badminton’s hub, will get the honour to host both the semi-finals as well as the final.

    The defending champions Chennai Smashers will take on Awadhe Warriors on the first day, with the clash between India’s top two shuttle queens, Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu.

    Indian badminton has a strong legacy from the past with players like Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand who have put India on the global badminton map. Season one of the PBL attracted more than six crore badminton fans in India through various social media and other platforms, and this number only increased in season two.

    The costliest player this time is India’s HS Prannoy. The World No 10 was bought by the Ahmedabad Smash Masters for a whopping Rs 62 lakh.

    The women’s singles top-ranked player, Tai Tzu Ying, who has won five superseries titles this year, is a new name in the PBL and she will represent the Ahmedabad franchise. Men’s singles No 1 Viktor Axelsen, who was crowned the world champion in August, will play for Bengaluru Blasters.

    Besides showcasing the best of international and Indian talent, the tournament has also been successful in widening the base of the game.

  • Sony changes LaLiga telecast time for India

    Sony changes LaLiga telecast time for India

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), the official broadcaster of LaLiga, has scheduled the El Clasico match between arch rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona on 23 December 2017 at 5:30 pm to suit the timing of Indian viewers.

    The live coverage of the game will begin at 4:30 pm on SONY TEN 1 and SONY TEN 2 channels. Recognising India’s potential as a footballing nation, LaLiga has also planned a special screening of the match at the NSIC Grounds, Okhla, in New Delhi supported by additional on-ground activations to engage football fans.

    Football Extraaa will be broadcast directly from NSIC. It will not only showcase pre, mid and post-match analyses and expert insights from football guest panelists but also run a live contest in the studio where viewers can pose questions to the guests on Twitter and win merchandise.

    SPN India president sports and distribution business Rajesh Kaul said, “Sony Pictures Sports Network and LaLiga have come together once again to serve football fans both on-ground and on-air in India and across the Indian subcontinent. Our commitment to Go-Beyond is demonstrated not only in broadcasting the El Clasico at primetime for fans in India but also giving them an on-ground experience of the live screening taking them closer to the game in Spain. Last season we telecast over 300 live games which is the highest number of games telecast in any European football league in a single season in India. The first El Clasico of season 2016-17 was the most viewed international league football game in India that season. We want to continue to drive the growth in viewership and our collaborative efforts for the first El Clasico of the season will further amplify its presence in India and expand our reach.”

    LaLiga president Javier Tebas said, “This 23 December, the first El Clasico of the season will be played. A match between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona always generates a tremendous amount of interest around the world. We want the many LaLiga fans in India to enjoy the match as if they were in the stadium. We are going to prepare an event so that more than 15,000 fans from India can be with us, enjoy the match, and experience LaLiga more closely. It will be an event for fans of both teams, and LaLiga in general, to engage with the best football match in the world. We are sure that it will be an unforgettable experience. It’s a great way to be closer to Indian fans.”

  • Hero ISL S4 opening game saw 59% viewership growth

    Hero ISL S4 opening game saw 59% viewership growth

    MUMBAI: The opening match of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) season 4, ATK and Kerala Blasters FC, got 25 million total TV impressions with a 59 per cent growth in viewership over last year’s first game, as per data shared by the broadcaster.

    The stadium was packed to the brim. The game recorded 7.4 million average impressions, which is double the India vs USA opening game at U-17 FIFA World Cup 2017.

    Star India MD Sanjay Gupta said, “We are thrilled with the response that The Hero Indian Super League is getting from football fans across India. The growth demonstrated is across urban, rural and digital audiences which indeed proves that Future Hai Football! We are looking forward to having an exhilarating journey on this biggest ever season of the league.”

    ISL Season 4 began on 17 November, and can be watched live on Star Sports network and Hotstar. A total of 95 matches will be played in the 2017-18 season between 10 teams. The season will be held over 17 weeks since two new teams have been added. The two-legged semi-finals of the ISL league are scheduled to take place in the second week of March 2018

     

  • Sony Ten 1 & Sony Ten 3 to broadcast India’s first SA tour in 3 years

    Sony Ten 1 & Sony Ten 3 to broadcast India’s first SA tour in 3 years

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Sports Networks  will broadcast India’s tour of South Africa with the first test match commencing on 5 January 2018.

    The tour that comprises three tests, six ODIs and three T20s will be played across five scenic venues in South Africa. The  series  will  be  telecast  on  Sony  Ten  1  channels  with  English commentary and on Sony Ten 3 channels with Hindi commentary.

    Viewers can also look forward to the return of Extraaa Innings, the network’s flagship live studio show, during the series. Some of the panellists and commentators that have been confirmed for the upcoming tour include Sanjay Manjrekar, Ajay Jadeja, RP Singh, Murali Kartik, Harsha Bhogle and Jonty Rhodes.

    India’s tour of South Africa marks the return of the Indian team to South Africa after a gap of three years. The Indian team has an opportunity to create history if it does win the series in South Africa; a first in twenty-five years.

  • Mumbai City FC’s sponsorship amount up by 50 %

    Mumbai City FC’s sponsorship amount up by 50 %

    MUMBAI: The fourth edition of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) is all set to kick-off in a day. From this year, ISL has moved from a three-month season to five months.

    Last year’s semi-finalist Mumbai City FC has upped the ante on its marketing and sponsorship this year. Talking to Indiantelevision.com Mumbai City FC CEO Indranil Das Blah says, “Sponsorship has been significantly better than the last three seasons. We sold our entire inventory and the sponsorship amounts have been increased by 50 per cent compared to last year. Mumbai City FC has added a whole bunch of new sponsors this season.”

    A close industry source informed Indiantelevision.com that the teams in the smaller markets have a sponsorship range of Rs 50-60 million and the teams in big markets including Kerala, Chennai, Goa, Mumbai and Kolkata have a sponsorship range of Rs 120-150 million.

    The title sponsor for Mumbai City FC is Ace Group since three years, back sponsor is Spicejet and on the right chest the jersey has OkSir, one of Indias advanced app-based service aggregators. The team is expecting to close four other sponsors. It is planning to increase sponsor list through licensing deals that will not be on the jerseys.

    Mumbai City FC is planning to go with outdoor and digital marketing this season. “We are concentrating a lot on digital marketing because our young audience spends more time on internet than on TV. For football, digital will be of paramount importance.  Our marketing is not focused towards generating revenue but to improve the Mumbai City FC brand,” says Blah.

    Globally, merchandising plays an important role in contributing to revenue. A report by Transparency Market research pegs the global licensed sports merchandise market to rise at a 6.2 per cent CAGR from 217-2025. It will hit a value of $49.6 billion by then from $29.26 in 2016. But the Indian market is yet to involve and overcome barriers like price sensitivity and piracy.

    This season, the team will increase fan engagement activities. Despite Mumbai’s propensity to pay more, the stadium tickets have been kept affordable so that students and children can come to watch the games. This season, Mumbai FC has launched a loyalty programme too. This apart, meet and greet with team members, contests and access to training sessions are on the anvil.

    The state of Indian sports being cricket-centric five years ago has today paved way for many others. “Today we can see more non-cricketing events doing well like football and kabaddi. Badminton, as a sport, is growing. Brands, sponsors, people in the federation and fans understand the development of the ecosystem. Globally, Brazil and India are the only two developed markets with one sport focus, football and cricket respectively,” says Blah.

    This year’s ISL has 10 teams with the first game between Kerala Blasters FC and defending champions Atletico de Kolkata, which is now called just ATK.  The latter surprisingly has no major sponsor.

    Bengaluru FC, Jamshedpur FC and Goa FC club ownerships are backed by their own business entities. Jamshedpur FC is backed by Tata Steel (title sponsors), Tata Trust and Tata Motors. Bengaluru FC owners JSW have yet again retained the title, with Puma being the main associate. FC Goa is backed by Deltin Hotels, Goa. The hospitality group sponsorship brand owner Jaidev Mukund Modi is a 65 per cent stakeholder in the club.

     

  • Dsport acquires broadcast rights of New Japan Pro-Wrestling

    Dsport acquires broadcast rights of New Japan Pro-Wrestling

    MUMBAI: Discovery Communications India’s sports channel Dsport, has acquired the exclusive broadcast rights of the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) from Japanese producer and broadcaster TV Asahi Corporation.

    New Japan Pro-Wrestling: King Of Sports will be telecast on Dsport at 9:00 PM every Monday starting 20 November 2017.

    DSport’s portfolio of wrestling properties also includes the American Ring of Honor and Lucha Underground and it now has broadcast rights for more than 150 hours of fresh wrestling content.

    NJPW, over the last few years, has seen unprecedented growth in its fan following across the globe. NJPW, which has been existent for over four decades now, has also seen participation from some WWE legends like The Undertaker, Sting & Hulk Hogan in the past. Some of the current superstars of the promotion are – Kazuchika Okada –IWGP Heavyweight Champion; Kenny Omega – IWGP US Heavyweight Champion; Hiroshi Tanahashi –IWGP Intercontinental Champion; and Tetsuya Naito, the Leader of Los Ingobernables de Japón.

    NJPW currently has eight titles for which the wrestlers compete – IWGP Heavyweight; IWGP Intercontinental; IWGP United States Heavyweight; IWGP Junior Heavyweight; IWGP Tag Team; IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team; NEVER Openweight and NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag Team Championships. The NJPW also hosts several tournaments round the year. Some of the most renowned amongst them are – Wrestle Kingdom, G1 Climax; World Tag League, New Japan Cup and Best of the Super Juniors.

  • Rural India props up PKL 5 viewership with 75 per cent contribution

    Rural India props up PKL 5 viewership with 75 per cent contribution

    MUMBAI: It was five years ago that kabbadi went from being a game played in playgrounds to captivating the largely cricket-crazy sports audience in India. The fifth season of Vivo Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), India’s most watched non-cricketing property, garnered 1.6 billion impressions for the live telecast according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC).

    PKL pocketed 3.3 billion gross impressions which is calculated at 30 minutes interval as per the data given by the broadcaster. There is some duplication involved in the gross impressions since the same person could have viewed the programme on two occasions.

    Surprisingly, 75 per cent of the total viewership came from rural areas and 43 per cent of viewers were female. Star Sports First, the free to air channel, attracted 31 per cent of the total viewers as compared to its pay counterpart, Star Sports 2, which contributed to just 10 per cent. Indeed, the first week of the tournament itself led to Star Sports First leading the genre with 148,506 impressions.

     The season saw its opening in Hyderabad and finale in Chennai with 12 cities in between. The finale witnessed an 83 per cent rise over the previous year, garnering 25.4 million impressions. The fourth season finale got 13.9 million impressions.

    The 140 games in the fifth season grabbed 1.6 billion impressions vis-à-vis 561.1 million impressions during the 60 games last year. The average impressions per game in season 5 were 11 million as compared to season 4’s 9 million, a 22 per cent increase.

    The league also attracted new fans, including kids (2-14 years) and teenagers (15-21 years) with 19 per cent and 21 per cent share in the total number of viewers, respectively. Tamil Nadu was one of the most successful new markets with the league being televised on Star Sports 1 Tamil. PKL was also broadcast in Kannada on Star Suvarna Plus and Star Maa Movies in Telugu, apart from English and Hindi.

    This makes a strong case for advertisers to hop on board a property in which they had very little confidence in its inaugural season. The latest season saw a string of sponsors and partners for individual teams and several brands joined the bandwagon as the matches progressed. Sponsors included TVS Motors, Bajaj Electricals, and Gillette Mach3 Turbo.

    Star India EVP and head ad sales Anil Jayaraj had earlier revealed that the sponsorship revenue for this year was 320 per cent higher this year. The sponsors make approximately 15 times the return on their investment.

    Star India managing director Sanjay Gupta says that the current season’s aim was to push the boundaries. “India has truly embraced kabaddi. With an expanded league, there were 12 teams competing in more than 130 matches, spread across 13 weeks. That the love for kabaddi is cutting across geographies and demographics is self-evident. It is very heartening to see this response from millions of fans across the country, which has emphatically re-established kabaddi’s position as the most watched non-cricketing sport synonymous with the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League.”

     

  • FIFA U-17 WC caught 47 million viewers for SPN

    FIFA U-17 WC caught 47 million viewers for SPN

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Network’s (SPN) recent broadcast of the FIFA U-17 World Cup seems to have made a mark. 47 million viewers tuned in across India for the 22-day long event, as per data from Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) for 2+ All India urban+rural, pay sports channels.

    The Hindi and Bengali feeds were instrumental in adding 40 percent of the overall viewership. Regions like West Bengal, Northeast India and Kerala contributed a large chunk of viewers. 45 per cent of the audience was also female.

    Games played by team India saw an average 2.6 million impressions per game. The full house finals between England and Spain in Kolkata’s Salt Lake stadium on 28 October generated an average of 2.2 million impressions. SPN claims that its coverage of the World Cup got better ratings than other international football events like FIFA Confederations Cup 2017, English Premier League 2016-17, La Liga 2016-2017 etc.

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    SPN India president, sports and distribution business, Rajesh Kaul said, “It was a great privilege for India as a nation to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup and an incredible opportunity for us at Sony Pictures Networks India to broadcast the tournament and bring football to the forefront in India. Our efforts towards leveraging and enhancing the popularity of the FIFA U-17 World Cup have yielded excellent results and we hope that this will be a pivotal point for the rise of football in India.”

  • DHL renews partnership with Hero ISL

    DHL renews partnership with Hero ISL

    MUMBAI: In its third year, international express service provider, DHL, today announced the renewal of its partnership with the Hero Indian Super League (ISL). It will continue as associate sponsor.

    DHL is the official match ball partner for all games. It will also award the ‘DHL Winning Pass’ to the player with the highest number of assists in each game, as well as for the entire season.

    Additionally, it will unveil an exciting 360 degree interactive brand campaign specifically created for this season which has the potential to be seen by 215 million television viewers and 1.5 million in-stadia spectators.

    DHL Express India country manager RS Subramanian said, “ISL has grown to be an integral part of the country’s sporting calendar. With our shared passion for football, at DHL, we see this partnership getting stronger each year. The increase in the number of games this season gives us greater opportunity to engage with our audiences on and off-ground for an even longer period of time.”

    Globally, DHL supports some of the world’s biggest football clubs and tournaments such as Manchester United, FC Bayern Munich and Copa Libertadores. The sponsorship of ISL is in alignment with the company’s core values of team spirit and having a can-do attitude.

    This season, ISL has grown to 95 matches from last year’s 65, and will be played over five months. 

    An ISL spokesperson said, “Having strengthened club participation from eight to 10 in the Hero Indian Super League this season, its soaring viewership and the league’s commitment to grassroots football, India is undergoing a football renaissance. It is going to be an exciting new journey with the longer season set to kick-off shortly. We are extremely happy that we are seeing greater interest from corporates with DHL having extended their association and committed to be part of the Indian football growth story”.

    The fourth season of ISL will kick-off on 17th November in Kochi. It will see the debut of two new clubs, Jamshedpur FC and Bengaluru FC, making it a 10-team league.

    Also Read:

    ISL: BritAsia TV bags UK FTA rights, plans Amazon Prime debut via Yupp TV

    Tata & JSW teams enter Indian Super League

    ISL sponsorship: Hero triples investment at Rs 1.6 bn