Category: Sports

Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League signs Allu Arjun as brand ambassador

MUMBAI: Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League, which opened to packed stadiums through its first leg in Mumbai, has now set its sight on the south. In a move to captivate the southern market, it has roped in Telugu cinema’s reigning star Allu Arjun as its brand ambassador in the two Telugu states namely Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The actor, who has won multiple awards for his work, will promote the sport and the league for the millions of Kabaddi enthusiasts in the Telugu speaking states. The Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad will host the eight city franchise league from 4-7 August 2015.

Talking about the development, Star Sports head Nitin Kukreja said, “At Star, we are committed to reinvent the great Indian sport of Kabaddi and set it in today’s context. The task is to make the game relevant and aspirational for the millions of young and passionate fans across India. Allu Arjun is an actor par excellence and a youth icon with following that cuts across all sections of the society. We believe he is the apt ambassador of the sport in this geography and are confident that this association will further the sport of Kabaddi in the region.”

This season of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi has created a place of pride for the National Anthem. Every day during the league, eminent personalities, local musicians and bands sing the anthem in a manner that captures the essence of the entire country. One of India’s biggest superstar, Amitabh Bachchan sang the National Anthem on 18 July followed by Sunidhi Chauhan on the second day in Mumbai and Saurav Ganguly on the opening day in Kolkata. Arjun will be performing the National Anthem on Day 1 when Hyderabad hosts its first ever Kabaddi game on 4 August.

Speaking on the occasion, Arjun said, “Kabaddi is a true Indian sport and Star Sports Pro Kabaddi has helped the game gain its due recognition in the country. I am truly honoured and proud to be singing the National Anthem at the start of the Hyderabad leg of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi. Being a physical fitness enthusiast, I am excited to associate with the league and will help promote the great Indian sport across the region.”

Star Sports Pro Kabaddi is being broadcast in five languages- Kannada, Telugu and Marathi along with English and Hindi, across eight channels of the Star network as well as on Hotstar. The league is currently on air in Telugu on Maa Movies.

MAA TV chairman N Prasad said, “Season one of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi successfully established Kabaddi in the mainstream, breaking it out of its hinterland niche and transforming it into a sport enjoyed just as much by an urban audience. We are happy to partner with Star Sports to broaden Kabaddi’s appeal even further by taking it closer to fans in Telugu States. We believe Kabaddi, being an aspirational contact sport, has a lot of potential and is set to become very popular.”

The Indian game of Kabaddi is also being telecast to a huge global audience in over 100 countries, including viewers in the United States, United Kingdom, Middle East and Latin America. It also has commentary from the field of play, a never seen before phenomena in Indian sports, actively engaging their role on camera.

July 23, 2015
BCCI forms working group to study Lodha Committee verdict on IPL; Rajeev Shukla to head

MUMBAI: The Indian Premiere League (IPL) Governing Council has recognized the urgent need to understand the impact of the Lodha Committee verdict on the IPL and the wider ramifications for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in detail. This, to uphold the paramountcy of the game in the country.

The Governing Council has authorised chairman Rajeev Shukla, to constitute a working group, which will study this verdict in consultation with all the key advisors and explore all the possible measures to be adopted, with an objective to protect the interests of all the stakeholders involved.

This group will work within a time bound period of six weeks and report their recommendations to the IPL Governing Council, which will deliberate and share their views with the working committee of the BCCI, for further action.

July 20, 2015
Ten Sports undisputed leader in sports TV viewership courtesy WWE

MUMBAI: Ten Sports has been dominating sports television ratings week after week with the only exception being when team India hits the lush green cricket field and another broadcaster is relaying it. That’s the only time when Ten Sports loses the top berth.

So what helps the channel garner such high ratings? In three powerful words, it’s the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

As per S-group (an analytical arm of TAM media research) analysis, Ten Sports is the leader in the sports genre with average weekly viewership of 28 GRPs in the last four weeks. The closest competitor this week was Sony Six, which garnered half the viewership.

Ten Sports global CEO Rajesh Sethi and his programming team are the main reason behind that. Repetitiveness is the biggest enemy of quality content, it kills the flair and develops a scenario of same programme, different day. However, the smart programming strategy of Sethi and team has successfully managed to avoid that for over a decade now.

Close to 85 per cent of Ten Sports’ viewership comes from the telecast of WWE matches alone with a duration dedication of only 25 per cent.

Sethi asserts, “Ten Sports Network has been the home of World Wrestling Entertainment in India since 2002. Over this period, WWE broadcast has evolved significantly with an increased focus to deliver quality to viewers. The broadcast delay from USA to India has completely been reduced. Ten Sports is now offering WWE RAW live in India. The initial inhibitions that the time difference will affect viewership numbers has been dispelled with very good ratings for the Live airing, which airs Tuesday mornings at 5.30 am India Time.”

Ten Sports has sealed a five-year deal with WWE, which makes the fight sport their exclusive asset till 2019. Both Ten Sports and WWE came together in recent times to launch numerous on-ground initiatives to popularize the sport in India.

“The new agreement between WWE and Ten Sports has seen a host of new initiatives taken by the broadcaster. New shows have been introduced with Ten Sports bringing popular show Main Event to India from January of this year. NXT, which brings the best action from upcoming WWE Superstars and Total Divas, a WWE reality show have been getting a major push from a marketing standpoint and not only existing viewers are taking to this programme but these shows are helping cater to new audiences,” adds Sethi.

He further informs, “RAW and Smackdown, the established marquee shows of WWE continues to garner great ratings. With prime time airings getting ratings of almost 1 TVR, we can safely say that WWE has established itself as a leader in sports entertainment. These numbers are second only to LIVE India Cricket and WWE is closing this gap as well. Ten Sports reaches around 150 million households across the Indian sub-continent and garnering such ratings in a very diverse and unique market like India for an American product like the WWE speaks volumes to what Ten Sports has done over time to making this product acceptable at first to an Indian to now becoming a part of the viewer’s habit.”

Ten Sports has started offering these flagship shows in shorter versions, including a customized one hour RAW programme called RAW Sunday Dhamaal.

RAW Sunday Dhamaal is positioned as a weekend premier show with a local flavour tailor-made for the Indian audience. There has been a new studio designed solely for the show with popular faces anchoring the show. Bollywood is a religion in India and Raw Sunday Dhamaal has consistently been using Bollywood and top celebrities to engage fans and add a new flavour to the shows. This marriage between WWE and Bollywood has seen celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor in the RAW Sunday Dhamaal studios. WWE Superstar and 2015 Money In The Bank winner, Sheamus will also make an appearance on RAW Sunday Dhamaal soon.

“WWE in other languages and a push on digital platforms is also priority for Ten Sports. Smackdown has launched in Hindi and this weekend airing is being well accepted by new viewers. With India being such a diverse market, Ten Sports is targeting a specific territory by territory approach to launching shows in different languages. Ten Sports and Zee Group, whose channels have a presence across 650 million households across the world will use group regional channels and will in due course, broadcast more WWE shows across multiple languages creating an increased affinity towards WWE. This approach will take WWE to the hinterlands wooing a new, non-traditional viewer base. On the digital front, VOD offerings on tensports.com along with leveraging social media from increased interaction and engagement with fans are the priority areas,” he informs.

Fans selected through contests have been rewarded with the opportunity to not only interact with WWE superstars and divas but travel to watch WWE LIVE events across the globe.

Further, as per the analysis carried out below, the viewership coming from WWE matches has been on an increasing trend for the past four years. From 5.7 GRPs in 2012, WWE obtains 9.2 GRPs per week in 2015. This analysis has been done for every 1000 minutes of WWE telecast so as to normalize the duration factor.

The ad rate of a 10-second slot during normal WWE programming fluctuate between Rs 60,000 – 80,000 while for a Wrestlemania or Summerslam sometimes it touches Rs 1 lakh mark too informs a source closely dealing with WWE’s media planning.

Baseline director & co-founder R Ramakrishnan feels that WWE is here to grow. “WWE is an evolving property, not only television viewership but licensing and merchandising will also grow. Live events will play a vital role in the growth. We saw Big Shaw and John Cena travelling to India and both Ten Sports and WWE will endeavor in launching several new initiatives. Credit must be given to Ten Sports for smartly handling the property over the years,” he opines.

WWE is one of the very few American sports, which is widely spoken about in India. Kids start with WWE card games and then gradually with age change to Playstation and X-box. After United States and United Kingdom, India is the largest market for WWE. Khali’s induction in the sport has already raised the bar and got more people talking about the sport India.

Overall World Wrestling Entertainment has a lot of room for growth and Ten Sports will certainly leave no stones unturned to generate as much revenue as they can from the sport.

July 19, 2015
Swachh Bharat, National Anthem, Amitabh Bachchan to dominate Pro Kabaddi 2 marketing blitzkrieg

MUMBAI: Bollywood’s quintessential superstar Amitabh Bachchan is emerging as the flag bearer of Star Sports’ Pro Kabaddi League season 2 marketing blitzkrieg. It all began with Bachchan composing and singing the anthem song ‘Le Panga’ for the league. Star India converted the entire recording studio voyage to a television commercial (TVC) and is telecasting it across its network.

However, Bachchan’s contribution to the marketing campaign of Pro Kabaddi League season 2 is not just limited to the anthem that he composed and sung. This year, the tournament has integrated with many national awareness initiatives and special importance has been given to the Indian National Anthem. Bachchan will mark the beginning of Pro Kabaddi League season 2 not by lighting lamp but by crooning the National Anthem of the country.

“Every match will start with the Indian National Anthem and we are delighted to announce that in the first match MrBachchan will sing the national anthem and mark the opening of the tournament. Kabaddi is a homegrown sport and pride and honour is deeply associated with the sport,” said Star Sports head NitinKukreja.

Speaking to Indiantelevision.com Pro Kabaddi initiator and Mashal Sports director Charu Sharma said, “Last year also we wanted to have renowned singers on board to start matches by singing National Anthem, but it wasn’t possible and we played the instrumental version of it. This year, we will have many significant dignitaries and Amitabh Bachchan is one of them. To start with him was pre-planned and his personality is one of the reasons behind it.”

International Kabaddi Federation president Janardhan Singh Ghelot opined, “For every Indian whenever the national anthem is sung in a sports event, it’s a matter of pride and honour and Kabaddi is a sport with pride and honour enthralled in it throughout. So the National Anthem is the best way to kickstart the league. Kabaddi always made India proud but no one was aware of the achievements of Indian Kabaddi players. Thanks to Mashal Sports, Charu Sharma, Nitin Kukreja, Star India Team and all their initiatives that the sport and the players got global recognition. The day Kabaddi will find a spot in Olympics, my dreams will turn true.”

According to a source close to the development, Star India is said to have paid Bachchan approximately Rs 2.5 crore for the ‘Le Panga’ campaign. However, the source also informed that Bachchan did not charge for the National Anthem appearance.

The tournament also stretched its arm to shake hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign. In a silent support to the campaign last year, Star in one of its TVCs opposed throwing waste on the roads in a creative way. “This year, we are actively part of it. We decided to join the campaign and push it actively. We need a cleaner India, we need to stop throwing waste in the middle of the road. There are waste paper baskets to throw garbage and so we decided to talk about it more this year. We will talk about the campaign across every medium,” added Sharma.

The tournament’s last year record may emerge as the biggest challenge this year. If Pro Kabaddi League 2 fails to garner more than 435 million viewers, will it affect the brand value and pose a question mark over the sustainability? Terming last year’s record as a compliment rather than a challenge, Sharma said, “I don’t take it as a challenge. Last year the tournament was over before people got into it. This year, people are waiting for it so I expect it to grow bigger and better.”

July 17, 2015
Star to air Pro Kabaddi League across 8 channels in 5 languages; ropes in 10 sponsors

MUMBAI: Kabaddi! Kabaddi! Kabaddi! The age old Indian game of Kabaddi is back on Star Sports and in its second season, the Pro Kabaddi League is bigger and better.

What’s more, Star India has roped in as many as 10 sponsors for the second season, which will be telecast across eight of its channels in five languages. This time round, Star has also increased the pool of players to 25 from 14 last year.

Additionally, Star is also mulling to hold the tournament twice a year, with the next tournament scheduled as early as January 2016.

After creating history in the first edition by garnering cumulative reach of over 435 million, the second season of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League is set to kick start from 18 July, 2015. Official broadcaster and one of the stakeholders in the tournament, Star Sports has held on to the title sponsorship in the second season too but has managed to bundle in a host of associate sponsors.

The List of Sponsors:

While the title sponsorship remains with Star Sports, the eight associate sponsors on board are: TVS, VIP Frenzie, Bajaj Electricals, Thums Up, State Bank Of India, Flipkart, Government of India Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Mahindra Jeeto. On the other hand, Radio Mirchi has associated with Pro Kabaddi as radio partners, whereas Britannia is the referee partner.

Star Sports head Nitin Kukreja said, “Kabaddi is back and so are the players. They are bigger, better, fitter, stronger and raring to go. We are increasing the pool of players and making it 25 this year compared to 14 of last. We have a set of international players coming in specially from Iran, which is India’s closest competitor in Kabaddi at a global level. In terms of broadcasting too we are going to reach to a larger audience this time with eight channels covering the event in five different languages. Enhanced graphics, analytics and the newly introduced in-vision commentary will make sure that the viewer experience is much more inclusive in season 2.”

Kukreja further added, “At Star, we are committed to reinvent the great Indian sport of Kabaddi and set it in today’s context. The task is to make the game relevant and aspirational for the millions of young and passionate fans across India. Our objective this season is to make Star Sports Pro Kabaddi bigger and better in terms of play, broadcast and reach.”

Mashal Sports director Charu Sharma, who came up with the idea after watching and covering live Kabaddi matches in 2006 Asian Games, was of the opinion that Pro Kabaddi has added ‘Pride and Respect’ to the honest and homegrown sport. He said, “The primary motive behind creating a league such as Star Sports Pro Kabaddi was to showcase the spectacular athleticism of the top players and give these players their due. The new international competitive and sophisticated face of the game, was appreciated equally by all sects of society, with an absence of a rural and urban divide. When it came to following Kabaddi, everybody was equally drawn to it. I have no doubt in my mind that armed with the continued commitment and encouragement extended by the federation, the team owners, the media and of course the Star Network, all of us can look forward to another blockbuster soon.”

Broadcast expansion, Multi Lingual Feed

Pro Kabaddi will reach out to a huge global audience by reaching over 109 countries. The tourney will be relayed in five different languages namely Hindi, English, Kannada, Telugu and Marathi.

Revenue Model

The money generated from ticketing goes to the home franchise and is the prime source of revenue for team owners. Apart from that, the revenue also comes from sponsorships as brands buy spots on various parts of the jerseys. Additionally, broadcaster Star Sports also pays a certain percentile to the franchises. The first edition of the tournament was not monetized as it was an experimental move. Moreover, Kukreja tells Indiantelevision.com that even in the second season monetization is not the prime focus, “Going forward we might explore various opportunities and launch other possible add-ons but at this point of time we want to give viewers an exquisite experience and that’s our main focus,” he said.

Team Owners’ Reaction

Team owners are buoyed by the progress so far. A franchise owner on condition of anonymity asserted, “Pro Kabaddi League is the most secure venture to invest in and in my opinion many have already drawn level. We will definitely break even this year. It will keep going to newer heights as Star and Mashal Sports are leaving no stones unturned. Sustainability is out of question and this year we plan to reach 60 crore (600 million) viewers. In the first year we were calling brands and pitching but this year there is a long queue waiting for us and that shows just where we’re headed.”

Future roadmap

Another team owner said that the tournament will be organised twice a year. “Fans won’t have to wait for one whole year anymore. The next season will be hosted in January 2016 and there are even possibilities of having a women’s Kabaddi league. So Kabaddi will no longer be a once-a-year sport. Moreover, more editions will popularize the sport and enhance participation, which automatically opens up more scope of revenue generation. So I believe we will have good time ahead if we manage to keep the flair alive and not let corruption play spoilsport.”

After the unprecedented success in the first edition, it remains to be seen if Pro Kabaddi season two manages to successfully live up to expectations.

July 16, 2015
FanDuel gets $275 million funding from KKR, Google Capital, Time Warner

MUMBAI: FanDuel Inc, the one-day fantasy sports operator, has closed $275 million in Series E financing, bringing total capital raised to $363 million.

The oversubscribed round was led by global investment firm KKR with Google Capital and Time Warner Investments, together with Turner Sports, also joining.

A number of NFL and NBA team owners participated in the round along with previous investors, including Shamrock Capital, NBC Sports Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Bullpen Capital, Pentech Ventures and Piton Capital.

The company continues to grow rapidly with paid active users growing 300 per cent from the same period last year. The financing will be used to increase customer acquisition efforts across the US, accelerate the introduction of new products, features and growth initiatives to serve the company’s mission to create the ultimate fan experience, and to build out its industry-leading management team.

“Having partners like KKR, Google Capital and Time Warner/Turner Sports invest in FanDuel underscores the way this company is transforming sports entertainment. This roster of investors, with expertise across finance, technology, advertising and sports entertainment, is committed to the growth and success of FanDuel as a game-changer for the sports industry,” said FanDuel CEO and co-founder Nigel Eccles.

“We are thrilled to support FanDuel’s next phase of growth given the company’s leading position in the daily fantasy market, model operating principles, highly efficient customer acquisition capabilities, and visionary management team. FanDuel is poised to become the most engaging digital entertainment platform for sports fans around the world,” added KKR’s Ted Oberwager.

The news comes even as FanDuel hired an experienced team of over 40 developers based in Orlando, Florida focused exclusively on sports and mobile gaming and finalizing exclusive, multiyear partnerships with 13 NBA teams and 16 NFL teams.

Mesa Global, which was recently acquired by Houlihan Lokey, served as FanDuel’s investment banker.

July 15, 2015
Six-team IPL may disrupt BCCI’s economics: experts

MUMBAI: When Justice Lodha committee spelt a part of its landmark verdict on 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) betting case on the afternoon of 14 July, 2015, many ripples were created.

IPL is the largest revenue generating property of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI). As per the board’s 2013-14 annual report, gross receipts from IPL 2013 were Rs 1194 crore as against Rs 892 crore in 2012. The main reason behind the increase in gross receipt, as per then honorary treasurer, was mainly incline in receipts from media rights which has gone up from Rs 556 crore to Rs 844 crore. The franchisee consideration had also witnessed a marginal incline from Rs 460 crore to Rs 502 crore. Now with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) being suspended for a period of two years by the Justice Lodha Committee, the reduction of two teams will result in less number of matches and subsequently generate lesser revenue for the Board as the broadcaster will pay less than the proposed deal.

Apart from BCCI, the official broadcaster of IPL – Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) Sony Max will also face a major blow if the number of matches go down. MSM paid a mammoth $1 billion (Rs 6600 crore) to acquire broadcasting rights for a period of ten years. Lesser number of matches will leave Sony with less opportunities for monetization. The 2015-16 season of IPL was the most successful year for Sony as the broadcasters sealed advertising deals of more than Rs 1000 crore before the first ball was bowled.

A source closely associated with the broadcasting network tells Indiantelevision.com on condition of anonymity, “It’s too early to predict anything and also it’s highly unlikely that BCCI will enter IPL with six franchises. This is a judicial step taken and the entire fraternity will abide by it. The broadcaster will wait and watch what BCCI does and the best part is there is time in hand to ensure smooth proceedings.”

As per TAM Sports analysis, CSK matches in IPL 8 (2015) garnered 4.2 per cent TVR whereas RR matches secured 3.7 per cent TVR. Moreover, as per the analysis, CSK featured six times in the list of top viewed matches of the season, which only goes on to prove the growing popularity of the MS Dhoni led team.

If IPL is played with six teams, the million dollar tourney will have 34 matches in total instead of 60. A cricket expert opines, “Firstly, we have to keep in mind that the two teams are suspended for two years and not for life. Now, in the meantime if BCCI adds two more teams to make it eight again, after two years when the two teams are back, IPL will be a 10 team tourney and that’s when it goes for pitch. So the hypothesis that the IPL will face a blow, is a null hypothesis. And if we think that because of the controversies, Indians will stop watching IPL then we are wrong because if it had to happen it would have happened in 2014 and 2015 because the case we are talking about is of 2013. So I see the IPL only growing bigger.”

On the brand value of IPL, Baseline managing director Tuhin Mishra says, “There might be a bit of a blip, but it’s temporary. The game of cricket and IPL are much bigger than a few individuals. It’s a game that is embraced by Indians and the world over. Controversies and incidents have been a part of sports from time immemorial and this too shall pass.”

Revenue from ticket sales will easily see a 25 per cent decline if there are only six teams feels a senior member of an e-ticketing giant. Every match of IPL witnesses more than Rs 7 crore gross in ticket sales and hence if the number of matches go down, ticketing revenue will also decline, which will in turn result in a substantial loss of e-ticketing venture associated with the league.

Addressing a press conference after the Justice Lodha Committee verdict was delivered, Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra said, “I am shocked and hurt. There are many inaccuracies… have requested for a copy of judgment.”

As per a PTI report, India Cements is set to move to Supreme Court and appeal against the order of the Lodha Committee. However, it must be kept in mind that it was the apex court, which in the first place, appointed the Lodha Committee to investigate the matter and said that its verdict on the case would be “final and binding.”

Following the pronouncement of the order of the Lodha Committee, BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said, “BCCI is committed to honour and respect judicial decisions and it would give its observations after the entire report is read and a collective decision is taken. BCCI is committed to ensuring transparency, accountability and cleansing the sport in order to restore the faith and confidence of millions of cricket loving people in the glorious game of cricket in general and IPL in particular.”

Veteran cricket expert Ayaz Memon tweeted, “Most significant import of Lodha verdict? Busted time-held defence of BCCI that it’s a private society, which can function with its own rules.” Another tweet from him read, “Momentous day not just in Indian but international cricket. Tremor will be felt everywhere….”

The focus now will gradually shift towards the broadcasting rights bid for the IPL in 2017 as there will be a number of broadcasters aggressively vying to get their hands on the Twenty20 cash cow. A senior media planner is of the opinion that things will get interesting with time. “An IPL comprising six teams will enforce 30 per cent loss if compared to the number registered this year. But a 10 team IPL will raise the brand value enormously as the broadcaster will have additional time to monetise.”

Experts also believe that the ball now is in BCCI honorary secretary Anurag Thakur’s court and he will play a pivotal role in the fate of the league. Speaking on the verdict and the way forward Thakur said, “We respect the verdict and would undertake a collective decision in a transparent manner, in the right direction and in the larger interest of the game after the verdict is received and analysed.”

Click to View CSK and RR matches viewership pattern (TAM Sports)

Click to View Overall ratings click (TAM Sports)

July 14, 2015
IPL: Justice Lodha committee bans CSK, Rajasthan Royals for two years

MUMBAI: In a landmark judgement, which has come as a major blow to the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Supreme Court appointed Justice Lodha Committee has suggested that two teams namely Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) be suspended for two years from playing in the cash-rich tourney.

Moreover, Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of ex-BCCI chief and CSK owner N Srinivasan, and Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra have also been suspended for five years from involvement in any type of cricket matches with the BCCI. Additionally, Meiyappan and Kundra have been banned for life from any cricketing activity as they have violated the rules of IPL and cricket.

“The purity of the game has been affected by the actions of India Cements and CSK. Fans have been cheated. India Cements did not take any action against Meiyappan. I propose to impose sanctions on India Cement’s franchise by suspending it from the league for two years. RR can’t shrink responsibility by saying Kundra acted in personal capacity. RR is also suspended for two years from IPL,” Justice Lodha said.

Informing the media that Meiyappan suffered a loss of Rs 60 lakh in bets, Justice Lodha said that Meiyappan’s passion for the game was questionable and that he put the game into disrepute as a team official.

“Three RR players were arrested for charges of fixing in 2013. Also a player was approached this year. This shows all is not well in RR. The purity of game must remain central to cricket,” he added.

Speaking about the future of the two franchisees that have been suspended, Justice Lodha said that it was for the BCCI to decide whether CSK or RR will be bought by another franchise.

Clarifying that the committee had not decided any criminal liability, Justice Lodha said that the committee had acted on behalf of BCCI. “The law will take its own course. No criminal liability has been decided by us,” he said.

The Lodha Committee was appointed by a Supreme Court Bench on 22 January. Its verdict will be final and binding on the BCCI, the promoters and owners of the IPL.

The IPL match fixing scandal came to light in May 2013 when the Delhi Police arrested three Rajasthan Royals players S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan for being involved in match fixing.

Pertinent to note here is that the broadcasting rights of IPL, which currently vest with Multi Screen Media (MSM), are slated to come up for bidding in 2016-17. MSM had the rights to the T20 tourney for a period of nine years, which is up to 2017. Whether this landmark outcome of the 2013 match-fixing scandal will have an impact on the bidding price remains to be seen.

July 14, 2015
Amitabh Bachchan lends vocals for Pro Kabaddi League promo

MUMBAI: The second season of Star Sports’ Pro Kabaddi League is set to kickstart on 18 July, 2015 and Star India has roped in none other than Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan to lend his baritone voice to its new commercial.

The iconic actor, who has an inimitable voice, has composed and sung the latest commercial of Pro Kabaddi League.

Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “Star has a deep and abiding commitment to growing the sport of Kabaddi. The inaugural season introduced the sport in an aspirational and cool avatar. We are delighted to partner with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan for the second season of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi, to help galvanize the sport across the nation.”

Bachchan added, “The early years of one’s life are the moments deeply ingrained in us. Kabaddi formed an integral part of our daily sport. When Star asked me for my participation in its promotion under Pro Kabaddi, I readily agreed for one simple reason – an opportunity to relive our younger exciting days. The composition of the song, its tune and its singing by me, has been an absolute delight. During its recording, helped by music director Aadesh Srivastava, I actually felt I was playing the game.”

The promotional film for Star Sports Pro Kabaddi, takes forward the #LePanga narrative in the form of a peppy, energetic and fast paced Bachchan song. The underlying visuals have superlative game and in action portraits of the heroes of the sport. What better booster than the baritone the country adores? This was the thought that motivated the very words of the film penned by India’s leading adman Ogilvy and Mather executive chairman and national creative director Piyush Pandey.

Highlighting the concept, Pandey asserted, “The idea was to combine the martial energy of the great India sport with the great Indian tradition of ‘Veer Ras,’ one of the nine emotions or ‘Navrasas’ of our culture. With a sense of fun and fire, that is how I wrote this song. Thereafter Mr. Bachchan took over. He composed the music, sang the song and created a legendary track.”

Star Sports Pro Kabaddi will be telecast live on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD2 in English; Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD3 and Star Gold in Hindi; Maa Movies in Telugu; Suvarna Plus in Kannada and Star Pravah in Marathi.

July 13, 2015
NBA India sees 200% jump in e-commerce sales

MUMBAI: Basketball, which introduced breakfast viewership in India, is growing at a rapid pace in all departments. From the beginning the National Basketball Association (NBA) India had a long-term vision to grow the game and build the league’s fan base in the market. It initiated many grassroots programmes to build on ground attraction and plans to extend the base and reach by expanding it to multiple cities.

What’s more, the growing venture NBA India, which is still exploring various opportunities to generate revenue, has seen a 200 per cent jump in its e-commerce sales over the last one year. The NBA’s primary business lines globally are media, sponsorship and merchandising.

Speaking exclusively to Indiantelevision.com, NBA India managing director Yannick Colaco says, “We continue to work with our global and local merchandising partners to bring the best NBA merchandise to our fans. We launched NBAStore.in, our local e-commerce site in partnership with Jabong, a little over a year ago and the response has been amazing. NBA merchandise has been delivered to over 400 cities across India and our e-commerce sales have grown 200 per cent over the last year. The league will continue to engage with like-minded brands to create partnerships to grow the game and bring the NBA experience closer to our fans. We currently have fantastic partnerships with Reliance Foundation, Jabong, adidas, Samsonite, Nike and SAP.”

Plans for 2015-2017:

Sharing his vision Colaco throws light on the plans to improve the sport’s reach and viewership in the country. “Over the next three years, the NBA will continue to grow the game and deliver NBA experiences and content to our fans across the country. We plan to expand our grassroots programs to more cities so that the youth across the country can learn and enjoy the game. We will continue to train coaches across India and provide them the tools and resources to grow the game in their communities.”

Viewership:

Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) sports venture Sony Six is the official broadcaster of NBA in India. 61.8 per cent of All India 1 lakh + television audience in India has the opportunity to see Sony Six. The viewership rating has witnessed constant growth in recent past and finals of 2015 secured the most. “Our partnership with Sony Six in India has been fantastic. Viewership of the NBA has skyrocketed in the last few seasons due to their commitment to bring two live games per day and other compelling NBA programs to our fans. Viewership of NBA programs increased significantly over last and our fan base on social media has grown 400 per cent in the last year,” says Colaco.

Aspirations of youth and initiatives taken by NBA to support it:

“There is great appetite for high quality basketball programs from schools, coaches, parents and youth across the country. These initiatives are essential because basketball is a great form of exercise and teaches youth important life lessons such as teamwork, discipline, sportsmanship and communication. Over one million youth have participated in the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program since 2013 and over 1,000 coaches have been trained across eight cities. In addition, over 15,000 basketballs have been donated and 300 rims installed at participating schools. We anticipate these figures to double as we expand the program later this year,” asserts Colaco.

Satnam Singh’s inclusion in NBA draft:

Recently India born Satnam Singh created history by getting a place in NBA as The Dallas Mavericks introduced 19-year-old as the first-ever Indian NBA draft pick in Dallas. And that can enthral tremendous energy in basketball aspirants in India. On Singh’s inclusion and its influence on the youth, Colaco says, “Our hope is that Satnam’s story will continue to inspire youth across India to participate in our great game. We will provide fans in India the opportunity to follow Satnam’s journey by showcasing his experiences across our digital and social media platforms as well as on Sony Six.”

In India most of the basketball courts are used to play cricket, skate or play football, now it remains to be seen if Colaco and his team manages to popularise basketball and drive the youth’s interest to the sport.

July 11, 2015