Category: Sports

MUMBAI: To take the six months of back-to-back cricketing action on NEO Cricket further, the channel has introduced two new shows Once More and Tata Photon+ Cricket Central.

Once More is an interactive show wherein the viewer can request his/her favourite cricket clip. Tata Photon+ Cricket Central, on the other hand, is a show which brings the viewers a daily dose of cricket news, feature stories on cricketing issues, gossip and masala corner on the lighter side of cricket.

Once More is a half an hour ‘request your cricket clip’ show, telecast from Monday to Friday at 8 pm, with a live format that involves complete viewer interactivity. In this show viewers can not only call, sms or e-mail to request their favorite cricketing moments, but also dedicate songs to their favorite cricketers. To add more zing, the show will include thematic specials like Kumble’s 30 best wickets, Sachin’s ten best knocks, best 6s by Indian batsmen, funniest cricket moments etc. thereby making the format flexible, interactive and fun.

Tata Photon+ Cricket Central is positioned as being the first daily magazine show of its kind and airs from Monday to Sunday from 9 pm to 9:30 pm, hosted by RK – Radhakrishnan Srinivasan. The show will cover all aspects of cricket such as cricket news for the day, feature stories on cricketing controversies/issues, gossip and masala corner on the lighter side of cricket. Another unique aspect of the show is the ‘Cricket Community’ wherein the host would welcome opinions from viewers on anything about cricket through video blog, social networking sites, emails, sms, vox pop interviews etc. The show also plans on having an interactive quiz segment.

Neo Cricket head programming Mautik Tolia says, “The launch of Once More and Tata Photon+ Cricket Central is our endeavour to present the game of cricket in its entirety to our viewers. The live format of these unique and exciting shows will involve a high level of viewer interactivity and will ensure that our viewers get the best of this cricketing season.”

MUMBAI: Sports management company Globosport CEO Anirban Das Blah has put in his papers.

Blah has been with the sports management agency since its formation. He is believed to be looking to become an entrepreneur.

GloboSport manages sports stars like Sania Mirza. The company is promoted by tennis player Mahesh Bhupati.

MUMBAI: Putting an end to the bitter dispute between the BCCI and IMG, the two parties have signed a fresh contract that will see the sports management firm receive an annual fee of 270 million over the next eight years for managing the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Addressing a media briefing following its annual general meeting (AGM) today, BCCI president Shashank Manohar said that earlier IMG was getting Rs 330 million.

Noting that letters from the BCCI and franchises had appeared in the media, Manohar said: “IPL franchises should not interfere in the board’s internal administration. In the future, this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated.”

He also addressed what he called ‘media speculation’ about
the rift between BCCI secretary N Srinivasan and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi saying that both had co-operated in resolving the issue. He also clarified that the IPL franchises will not be compensated for any expenses incurred during the second edition of the IPL which took place in South Africa as nobody has suffered a loss.

The IPL Governing Council will have a workshop with the franchises in November to discus various issues.

BCCI Finances:

In terms of finances, the BCCI reported a surplus of Rs 540 million as against the budgeted Rs 2.33 billion for the previous fiscal ended 30 March 2009.

IPL contributed a surplus of Rs 150 million which was much less than the Rs 510 million that had earlier been projected. The IPL income for the BCCI from the first edition was Rs 6.62 billion as opposed to the Rs 6.45 billion it had budgeted for. However the IPL’s expenditure was Rs 6.47 billion as opposed to the budgeted Rs 5.92 billion.

The overall surplus shortfall of Rs 1.80 billion in the previous fiscal was due to various reasons. The BCCI lost Rs 730 million in media rights and sponsorship income after England did not play two ODIs after 26/11. It also suffered a shortfall of Rs 410 million after the Champions Trophy, which was to be held in Pakistan last year, was cancelled. India’s tour to Pakistan that was to have taken place in January was also cancelled. Then it gave Rs 250 million to the National Sports Development Fund.

From media rights the BCCI got Rs 4.66 billion against the budgeted income of Rs 5.34 billion.

For the current fiscal ended 31 March 2010, the BCCI in its budget expects a surplus of Rs 770 million which marks an increase of 230 million over this fiscal. The IPL is expected to negatively impact the overall surplus. Due to the increase in expenditure for the IPL after the shift to South Africa, the BCCI expects a deficit of Rs 340 million from the event.

The IPL is expected to have made Rs 7.74 billion in income and spent Rs 8.08 billion. Overall, the BCCI expects to make Rs 16.99 billion and spend Rs 16.22 billion in the current fiscal.

Sticking with the IPL, the BCCI says that its income from the second edition will not be taxed by the South African Revenue Service. However players income will be taxed at 15 per cent. The BCCI adds that its Fixed Deposits with banks is Rs 10.65 billion as of 31 March 2009. Its interest income rose to Rs 900 million from Rs 760 million for the fiscal ended 31 March 2008.

The payout to member associations from TV Subsidy/IPL subvention/ Infrastructure subsidy has risen to 6.24 billion for the fiscal ended 31 March 2009, as against Rs 4.56 billion for the previous fiscal. This also includes Rs 2.02 billion as IPL subvention.

MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) said Wednesday it has sold 75 per cent of its on-air inventory for the Airtel Champions League Twenty20, which is set to kick off on 8 October.

The broadcaster has also roped in Coca-Cola as its beverage partner, while Onida has walked on board as the umpire sponsor. The deals are believed to be for a period of three years.

While ESS MD Manu Sawhney did not comment on the deal size at a media briefing, the Coca-Cola deal is said to be worth Rs 100 million.

On air, ESS has roped in Pepsi, Maruti Suzuki, Onida, Sony India, Airtel and Havells as sponsors.

There are no performance-linked deals for either the on-going Champions Trophy or this event. Earlier, ESS had signed a five-year deal with Airtel as the title sponsor for the Champions League.

Interestingly, with Pepsi and Coca-Cola taking on board as on-ground and on-air sponsors, there will be debate once again about which mechanism is more effective in terms of brand visibility.

Sawhney said ESS is holding back 15 per cent of inventory for the Champions Trophy which it will sell as India progresses. The media buyer, though, opines that ESS will have to be smart about how the remaining inventory is sold. If India loses its first match, then ESS will be on a tricky wicket.

Airtel Champions League Twenty20 chairman Lalit Modi said the winner gets $2.5 million in prize money. The runner up gets $1.3 million while the two losing semi-finalists get $500,000.

MUMBAI: Beverage conglomerate Coca-Cola has unveiled elements of a global integrated marketing campaign inspired by the joyous dance celebrations familiar to Africa, the host continent for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

The campaign, developed to support its sponsorship of the sporting event, is an extension of the current Coca-Cola brand platform ‘Open Happiness‘. The campaign, showcased during a global press conference attended by Coca-Cola chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent and Fifa president Joseph S. Blatter at the headquarters of Federation Internationale de Football Association (Fifa), invites fans to express their optimism and passion for football through active dance celebrations.

Among the key elements from the Coca-Cola campaign are the first-ever recognition of the best player celebration carried out during the tournament, a music anthem, global television commercials, an online program, commemorative packaging and the 86-country Fifa World CupTrophy Tour by Coca-Cola.

Kent says, “The worldwide passion for the sport of football is unrivalled and gives our business the best platform to connect with fans everywhere Coca-Cola does business. Our programs to support the 2010 Fifa World Cup, like the Trophy Tour, will help ensure that fans have the chance to experience the excitement and pageantry of football no matter where they live.”

The campaign begins with the Fifa World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola, which will take the Trophy to 86 countries, including every nation in Africa. The ceremonial start of the tour was held today as President Blatter and Mr. Kent sent the Trophy on its round- the-world journey. The Fifa World Cup Trophy will be flown later in the week from Zurich to its first stop in Cairo, Egypt.

In the months leading up to the Fifa World Cup an array of programmes will be activated that will bring fans closer to the Fifa World Cup experience. Among the highlights will be a global TV commercial featuring Roger Milla – the footballer from Cameroon famed for his celebratory dance during the Fifa World Cup in Italy in 1990. Millions around the world remember Milla’s goal celebration as the first to include a joyful dance. Milla was on hand in Zurich to present the new spot.

MUMBAI: ESPNcricinfo has launched a new version of its mobile website that provides comprehensive coverage of international cricket in the mobile space.

The new mobile site allows users to follow ESPNcricinfo‘s ball-by-ball commentary, check the complete scorecard and read match bulletins, all on the same page.

Additionally, users can also check records across tests, ODIs and T20s, read opinion features by the site‘s experts, read detailed profiles of international players, search scorecard of every international player and also access ICC rankings for both countries and players on the new mobile site.

Says ESPN EMEA director mobile Anil Nair, “Our aim has been to create a seamless user experience between the website and the mobile version, so that it feels familiar and friendly. We have a host of new features on our new site including personalised country pages that allow fans direct access to the teams they support. It also has an enhanced live game experience and a unique player search module.”

MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) will re-launch its online game Super Selector on 22 September to coincide with the ICC Champions Trophy and Airtel Champions League T20.

In the latest version of Super Selector, there are two leagues – ‘Apna League‘ for fans and the ‘Special Media League‘ for the media fraternity. The broadcaster had first launched the game in 2001.

NEW DELHI: Taking advantage of the cricket season, ESPN has launched a new game – Super Selector – that commences tomorrow to coincide with the ICC Champions Trophy and Airtel Champions League T20.

In this version, the action gets wilder with the introduction of new leagues and players. Some of the highlights of the game include WAP availability, SMS Alert, Desktop Widgets, Integration with Facebook, Friendster and Orkut, Forums, expert Blogs and EDMs.

A Special Media League section has been introduced to make it more interesting for the Cricket fans in the media community. The Winner of the Media League will get a special Cricket BAT signed by ESPN Commentary team. There will be prizes for the top three finishers in the media section. There will be consolation prizes for the top ten.

Rules and regulations of the Media League stipulate that only journalists employed by accredited publications/channels are eligible for prizes in the media league and the winners will be announced after due deliberation on the eligibility criterion.

The Super Selector Game is based on the ICC cricket season. This would also consist of IPL tournament, Champion League tournament, and a few non-ICC cricket tournaments.

Super Selector points will be scored from the real life performance of the players in selected Test, ODI and Twenty20 international cricket matches. A full list may be found in the Super Selector calendar.

The game is split into multiple Stages and there are 3 Game Weeks within each stage. Prizes will be awarded to the highest point scoring managers of Game Days and Stages.


Registration has to be done on espnstar.com before beginning. Each Super Selector teams will receive a ‘Super Selector Stars / Budget‘ to select a team of cricket players. The Super Selector Team will then receive Super Selector Points based on the real life performance of selected players. Points for each of the three teams will then be added together to give you a Super Selector score and league ranking.

MUMBAI: Ten Sports is bolstering its relationship with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) with a new show, WWE Superstars. It airs today at 4:30 pm.

This will be the 4th show of the week to feature `live’ event content, along with the Raw, Smackdown and ECW programmes.

Ten Sports has an exclusive contract with WWE for seven years to show seven wrestling programmes a week. Superstars of the WWE world belong to three brands – RAW, Smackdown and ECW.

WWE Superstars will showcase the stars from all three brands, both male and female. The biggest stars of WWE Raw are John Cena, Kofi Kingston Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah, Big Show (Paul Wright) and Mickie James (female superstar referred to as a Diva).

Smackdown sports a different setting to Raw and ECW, where the wrestlers contest and fight for top honours. Some of the stars from the Smackdown brand are Chris Jericho(Christopher Irvine), CM Punk ( Phil Brooks), John Morrison(John Hennigan) and Michelle McCool (the Smackdown Diva)

ECW, the third brand of the professional wrestling entertainment world, was an independent professional wrestling promotion – Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). But on bankruptcy the WWE bought the assets of ECW and relaunched the Extreme Championship Wrestling franchise as a WWE brand in June 2006 to complement their existing Raw and SmackDown brands.

This brand was initially produced differently from WWE‘s other brands. The male performers were called “Wrestlers” and later “Extremists” as opposed to “Superstars” while female performers were called “Vixens” as opposed to Divas. But the brand is now produced following the same format of the other brands.

MUMBAI: IEC in Sports has renewed its worldwide media rights contract for the tennis event, ATP Marseille, until 2012-end.

Under the terms of the agreement, IEC will ensure the distribution of the event to its broadcast partners globally.

Following on from a successful renewal of one of its French properties, the Swedish-based international sports marketing company also announced the recent signature of the French Masters in tennis.

Under the terms of this agreement, IEC in Sports will distribute the event worldwide outside of France, Mauritius, Andorra, Switzerland and Sub-Saharan Africa.

IEC in Sports head of tennis properties Anders Björkman says, “Tennis is one of the backbone sports of IEC’s portfolio and these contracts demonstrate the commitment IEC has shown to its Tennis Properties and in turn the confidence IEC’s clients have in our expertise to distribute the world over.”