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  • First day of ICC Board meeting concludes with unanimous support for key principles

    First day of ICC Board meeting concludes with unanimous support for key principles

    DUBAI: The first day of the International Cricket Council’s Board meetings concluded in Dubai on 28 January with unanimous support for a set of principles relating to the future structure, governance and financial models of the ICC.

     

    The ICC Board unanimously supported the following principles: 

     

    * There will be an opportunity for all Members to play all formats of cricket on merit, with participation based on meritocracy; no immunity to any country, and no change to membership status.  

     

    * A Test Cricket Fund paid equally on an annual basis to all Full Members (except the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board) will be introduced to encourage and support Test match cricket.

     

    * A larger percentage from the increasing Associate Members’ surplus will be distributed to the higher performing non-Full Members.

     

    * Mutually agreed bi-lateral FTP Agreements which will be legally binding and bankable and will run for the same period as the ICC commercial rights cycle (2015-2023).

     

    * Recognition of the need for strong leadership of the ICC, involving leading Members, which will involve BCCI taking a central leadership responsibility.

     

    * A need to recognise the varying contribution of Full Members to the value of ICC events through the payment of ‘contribution costs’.

     

    * The establishment of an Executive Committee (ExCo) and Financial & Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA) to provide leadership at an operational level, with five members, including BCCI, CA and ECB representatives. Anybody from within the Board can be elected to Chair the Board and anybody from within ExCo and F&CA can be elected to Chair those Committees. With the ICC undergoing a transitional period that includes a new governance structure and media rights cycle, this leadership will be provided for two years from June 2014 by: a BCCI representative to Chair the ICC Board, a CA representative to Chair the ExCo and an ECB representative to Chair the F&CA.  

     

    * A new company will be incorporated to tender future commercial rights for ICC events.  There will be three major ICC events in each four-year cycle, including the ICC Champions Trophy which will replace the ICC World Test Championship.

     

    * ICC will utilise a more efficient operating model for all ICC events, with a simplified accounting model across ICC income and expenditure to help better manage ICC administrative and event costs.

     

    ICC President Alan Isaac said: “This is an important time for world cricket and it is extremely encouraging that the ICC Board has unanimously supported a set of far-reaching principles that will underpin the long-term prosperity of the global game.

     

    “These principles emphasise the primacy of Test cricket and that for the first time in cricket’s history participation will be based entirely on meritocracy, giving everyone powerful incentives to play better cricket and develop better cricketers. 

     

    “There is more work to be done by the Members in developing their schedules of bilateral cricket while at the ICC we need to work through the detail of the manner in which these principles will be implemented.

     

    “Extensive work will now be undertaken in advance of a follow-up Board meeting next month.”

     

    Isaac also expressed his disappointment with the misconceptions that had been created as a result of a draft position paper produced by three ICC Members being leaked.

     

    “Several months ago I encouraged BCCI, CA and ECB to enter into a constructive dialogue together to help resolve some of the key commercial and governance issues facing the game. These leading cricket nations have worked tirelessly to produce a document which provided the basis for the past few weeks of extremely constructive discussions.

     

    “It is obviously very disappointing that a draft position paper from these Members was leaked as this prompted a debate that ignored the ongoing negotiations between all Members and led to unwarranted criticism of many of those involved in the process.

     

    “The principles agreed today provide clear evidence that through the course of further discussions over the coming weeks we can be increasingly confident in achieving consensus.”

     

    David Richardson, the ICC Chief Executive, added: “An enormous amount of effort has gone into developing a comprehensive set of proposals that include input from all Members.

     

    “The Board has held some very constructive, inclusive, wide-ranging and far-reaching discussions and I am looking forward to bringing to fruition some of the principles that have been proposed and accepted in relation to the cricketing structures of the global game.” 

     

    The ICC Board consists of the chairman or president from each of the 10 Full Members plus three elected Associate Member representatives. Also present at ICC Board meetings is the ICC President, who chairs proceedings, the ICC Chief Executive and the ICC Vice-President.

     

    Alan Isaac                                                      ICC President

    Mustafa Kamal                                               ICC Vice-President

    David Richardson                                          ICC Chief Executive

     

    Zaka Ashraf                                                     Pakistan

    Dave Cameron                                                 West Indies

    Peter Chingoka                                                Zimbabwe

    Giles Clarke                                                     England and Wales

    Jayantha Dharmadasa                                      Sri Lanka

    Wally Edwards                                                  Australia

    Nazmul Hassan                                                Bangladesh

    Imran Khwaja                                                   Associate Member Representative

    Chris Nenzani                                                   South Africa

    Keith Oliver                                                      Associate Member Representative

    Martin Snedden                                                New Zealand

    Neil Speight                                                      Associate Member Representative

    Narayanaswami Srinivasan                               India

  • BCCI to honour cricketers on 11 January

    BCCI to honour cricketers on 11 January

    MUMBAI: The seventh annual BCCI award ceremony will be held on 11 January 2014 to honour the best performers in senior and junior-level cricket, at the international and domestic level, in the twelve months from 1 October 2012 to 30 September 2013.

    Ravichandran Ashwin will be the recipient of the Polly Umrigar award, for being India’s best international cricketer of 2012-13. The award was previously won by Sachin Tendulkar (2006-07 and 2009-10), Virender Sehwag (2007-08), Gautam Gambhir (2008-09), Rahul Dravid (2010-11) and Virat Kohli (2011-12).

    Abhishek Nayar will receive the Lala Amarnath Award, for being the best all-rounder in the 2012-13 edition of the Ranji Trophy.

    The Mumbai Cricket Association, which Nayar represents, will collect the trophy for the Best Overall Performance in the 2012-13 season. The various teams representing the MCA won the Ranji Trophy, the Under-25 C.K. Nayudu Trophy, the Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy, the Women’s Under-19 Inter-State tournament, and finished runners-up in the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy.

    The achievers of 2012-13 apart, Rohit Sharma will receive the Dilip Sardesai award, for being India’s best cricketer in the recent Test series against the West Indies.

    A highlight of the function will be the felicitation of three former stalwarts – RG (Bapu) Nadkarni, Farokh Engineer and Late Eknath Solkar – for their contribution to Indian cricket. They will receive a memento and a cheque for Rs 15 lakhs each.

    The function will be held in Mumbai.

  • IPL 2014 auction to be held on 12 February

    IPL 2014 auction to be held on 12 February

    MUMBAI: The seventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to begin its auction early next year with eight teams in the fray. The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) has announced that the auction for the new edition will be held on 12 February and if needed will be extended to 13 February 2014 as well. An embargo has been placed on franchisees approaching players from other teams before 11 January.

    A minimum of 16 players and a maximum of 27 players will be allowed to be auctioned to each of the eight teams in which only nine overseas players can be included. In a match, only four international players can play. Last year, franchisees could have 33 players including 11 from overseas.

    Players can stay in a franchisee for a year and then have an extension of a year or two as compared to the one year restriction that was imposed last year. This has to be exercised before 15 December. Maximum of five players from the 2013 squad can be retained before the auction that can include both capped and uncapped players, the contract for which must be submitted to the BCCI on or before 10 January.

    The first capped player who will be retained will be charged Rs 12.5 crore and Rs 4 crore for each uncapped player retained. These players will not be auctioned. The minimum requirement for catchment area players has been removed.

    The cap for the IPL fees for an entire squad is Rs 60 crore that will increase by 5 per cent per annum for 2015 and 2016 while the minimum would be Rs 36 crore. The fees will now be denominated in rupees for Indian players and international players can have it in their own currency. Last year’s entire squad cost $ 12.5 million.

    One addition has been made to the auction with ‘rights to match’ (RTM) available to a franchise depending on number of retained players. For five to three players, one RTM is allowed, for one or two, two RTM is given and three RTM will be given if no players from last year is retained. RTM will allow franchisees to have a final call on the bid price after which no other franchise can bid on it.

  • “We will use the Indian jersey to promote all our brands” : STAR INDIA COO SANJAY GUPTA

    “We will use the Indian jersey to promote all our brands” : STAR INDIA COO SANJAY GUPTA

    Cricket – a game played on the greens with men in various colours battling it out with a bat and a cherry. And watched by billions of viewers worldwide. And the Rupert Murdoch-owned 21st Century Fox’s Indian arm Star India once again reaffirmed how much it is committed to  the game when the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that it had agreed to become the title sponsor of the men in blue for the next four years.

    It already has the television, internet and mobile broadcasting rights to domestic cricket, it made a lucrative offer to become an associate sponsor of the IPL, and is investing in different language streams of commentary and channels for the game, and what have you. Clearly, apart from entertainment, sport is coursing through the management’s veins in India.

    Indiantelevision.com’s Seema Singh spoke to Star India COO Sanjay Gupta on the reasons behind the sports drive, the title sponsorship of team India, the challenges that lie ahead in monetising all its investments.

    Excerpts: 

    What was the need to take the title sponsorship of the Indian cricket team? How many days of cricket will be played from 2014 to 2017?

    It is a very important sponsorship for us. Cricket helps build awareness of brands and associations and we are seeking value coming from both. It is a serious value that we see as a business and hence this sponsorship.  Broadcast right gives us the opportunity to put TV ads on air. What the Title Sponsorship gives us is the name on the jersey, which is a very different asset. So now we can put an ad and also logo on the jersey. So in my mind, the way we are using it is that the jersey will be used to make the Star brand more salient in our viewer’s minds. Approximately 100 or more matches will be played in this period.

    Are you planning on any innovation as compared to Sahara, the previous title sponsor?

    We believe that sport is an asset that can be used for building and marketing brands in a very effective way. This hasn’t been exploited so far in India, as compared to sports globally.

    Our aim is to reinvent sports and we spoke about this when we said ‘refresh sports.’ We thought of adding non-live content and we wanted to do it in Hindi.

    We would be using Star brands, and it could be Star Sports, Star Plus or Life OK, which could find its presence on the Indian jersey once our sponsorship commences. We would like to build our brand in a very effective way using this association.

    When Sahara sponsored the Indian team, it never put any money on television. But, we believe that the combination of putting money on television and sponsoring the jersey could be a great innovation to build stronger brands. We will get a multiplier with television.

    When the jersey has a Star Plus logo, viewers will also be informed about Star Plus shows and what the channel stands for.

    Are you allowed to change the cricketing gear as part of the title sponsorship deal?  If yes, are you looking at changing the look of the jersey?

    The jersey’s look is the call of BCCI.  Since we are the title sponsor, the jersey will now have our brand name. We are looking at using multiple brands on the jersey depending on the need. So we could start with Star Plus, and after a year think of putting Life OK’s logo on the jersey.

    With Star India banking getting its hands so deeply embedded in cricketing, there is a perception of a monopolistic setup coming into the picture?  Your take on that.

    In my mind, if I look at cricket content, it is very equitably distributed amongst all the three sports channels. So, while we have the BCCI content, Sony runs the IPL, which is the biggest cricket tournament. Besides this, Ten Sports has the rights to South Africa, West Indies and the Sri Lanka series.

    All the three brands have strong cricket content. This makes it interesting, since having cricket on all platforms makes it reach larger audience base and in turn builds sports in the country.

    Many feel that cricket is overvalued, then why is Star investing so much on the sports?

    In my mind, cricket is undervalued. If you see all pieces of content: drama, sports, news, Bollywood, the content which has the biggest affinity and reaches the largest audience is cricket. 64 crore people watched the sport last year, which is higher than any piece of content and this cuts across all regions and languages. So cricket according to me is not at all overvalued.

    Sports help build brands, not locally, but nationally. And most people who today look at building brands are looking nationally and not only in select states. Anybody who feels that cricket is overvalued and doesn’t have power, needs to see its power through its reach and the impact it has on consumers.


    I personally feel that the sports content has been limited to English language and a few people. So taking sports deeper into regional market is essential and this hasn’t been done so far.

    The biggest heroes are the cricketers of the country. They are young talented people, performing well. Investment in sports and cricket is justified.

    You can never get enough of good quality sports and content; viewers  will always want more.

    Will you be backing other sports and diversifying your sports portfolio?

    Yes! We want to. We think cricket is the main stake, but we are not a single sports nation. There is a large followership of football. We are investing in football and hockey in a big way. We are going ahead and investing in Hockey India League. We have already shown our intent in badminton, by sponsoring the Indian Badminton League. We will invest money in all sports.

    Cricket was the one sport where we were not the partners. Now we have invested in that as well.

    With India losing on foreign grounds, do you see that as a problem for your investment and viewership?

    No, I don’t. I have high level of confidence that both sport in general and cricket in particular, will have its following and deeper engagement. We have opportunity to perform better even outside and it is not that we haven’t performed. In England we did well. We performed well across best teams and across best seaming pitches. It is a phase in any team.  But fundamentally, I feel that Indian team is performing dramatically. The game of cricket has got deeper in this country. All these new cricketers are from smaller towns. Even younger generation now feels they can be a part of team. The coming in of IPL has just deepened that desire of becoming a part of the team.

    What is needed to monetise your investments in sports? Do you think digitisation will help? Even if it is not proceeding as smoothly as you expect? 

    I personally feel that the sports content has been limited to English language and a few people. So taking sports deeper into regional market is essential and this hasn’t been done so far. So to fortify sports we want to reach out to different regions and into other sports, beyond cricket. We want to make sports big for every member of the family.

    Monetisation of sports is a challenge, given there is very limited transparency in terms of numbers given by analogue distribution system. I think, with digitisation we are seeing that changing over the next few years.

    Yes, there is a challenge with the MSO vs LCO tussle. But, I am an optimist and I feel there will be a better tomorrow than what is today. Also I think the overall content and media market is growing so much that every stakeholder has a potential to earn and earn reasonably and in a fair way.

    So, I see a very fair distribution of income and every stakeholder: MSO, LCO, Broadcaster will earn a fair amount.  The reality is that of the 140 million cable TV homes, already 70 million are digital between DTH and cable, which is a big leap in two years time. This market is large and is growing fast. Though there are hiccups, I am confident that things will be better.

    Digitisation will ensure that every household is well connected with a transparent set top box, a measurement system which is more transparent and fair money will exchange hands. I don’t know if it will happen in couple of months, but I am sure that in the next three to five years, life will be dramatically different.

    But the time is limited between the sponsorship, the broadcast rights and digitisation. What if there is a mismatch? How will you recover investments?

    Our sponsorship is a way to build our brand.  We have an opportunity to make our brands bigger.  As far as the broadcast rights are concerned, we will work towards resolving issues on the ground and related to monetisation as we move forward. Yes, I agree there is a risk, but we believe there is a reasonable risk and hence the investment. 

    Is your associate sponsorship continuing for the IPL?  Also would you take the broadcast rights once the rights for Sony expires in 2017?

    We had taken the rights for three years. So it will continue for two more years.
    As for the broadcast rights, there is nothing definite right now. We have invested a lot of money in sports already and we would like to see some returns first, before we make up our mind if we want to invest more. The big question for us today is how to ensure that the big investments we have made start reaping results.
    Our commitment made in rights is close to Rs 20,000 crore. It is a huge bet. We need to now unlock value and how do we take content deeper and also invest in more sports.

    Are you seeing an uptick in Star India’s ad revenues?

    Overall the mood in the economy is not very buoyant and I think everybody this year has been very careful on where they are investing. However, as we move forward, people will look at building their brands, so they will spend on advertising as it helps build strong brands. We will have bilateral discussions with brands. We are excited about the future.

    Growth rate in this country will not be less than 4.5 to 5 per cent in the next few quarters. And it may get better depending on the policies, with the party coming to power.

    Star India is seeing a very healthy growth rate, much ahead of what the market is seeing. I think the market will in the next seven to nine months grow at 10-12 per cent and we are significantly ahead of that in terms of numbers.

    Is there scope for sports viewership to grow in India and what is the advertising revenue earned through this reach?

    The sports channel viewership is approximately 4 per cent in India, while that globally is 15 per cent. We think there is a scope for growth and Hindi and other regional language commentary will help achieve that growth in reach.  Of the total advertising revenue, sports amounts to 10 per cent revenue share. 

  • #ThankYouSachin trends on Twitter for over a week

    #ThankYouSachin trends on Twitter for over a week

    MUMBAI: He is not called the living legend for no reason. As Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar bid adieu to international cricket, there was frenzy on the social media sites. Good wishes started pouring in for the cricketer from all quarters on Twitter.
    #ThankYouSachin trended for over a week on Twitter.

    According to Asterii Analytics that took a sneak peek into the magnitude of the hashtag, which was used to send wishes to Sachin, there were over 1.2 million tweets as on 17th November, 2013 with the hashtag #ThankYouSachin. Since, this hash tag was popularised by BCCI in order to send people personalised picture of Sachin with his photograph, the trend took off really well.

    Interestingly, it was in October when a Twitter user originally used the hashtag to thank Sachin and Dravid, but BCCI picked it up in November after looking at its popularity.
    Umpteen blogs were also written on Sachin using the hashtag to pay a tribute to the cricketing legend. Out of the total number, 46 per cent of the tweets were replies, while 34 per cent were original tweets and 20 per cent were retweets.

    Other hashtags like #SRT200, #SachinSachin, #Respect, #Legend etc., also trended over the week.

    As expected, around 90 per cent of the tweets were generated in India but countries like Pakistan, UK, and USA also contributed to this trend.

    Interestingly, 87 per cent of the tweeters were male while 13 per cent comprised of female fans.

    “I am really touched with #ThankYouSachin messages. Your support all these years have inspired me to give my best.” by Sachin Tendulkar was the most re-tweeted tweet. It was re-tweeted 15,772 times and was a favourite of 10,406 people on Twitter.

  • BCCI launches groundbreaking #ThankYouSachin campaign on Twitter

    BCCI launches groundbreaking #ThankYouSachin campaign on Twitter

    MUMBAI: The BCCI today announced a new integration with Twitter, one which allows fans worldwide to connect and say thank you to Sachin Tendulkar, like never before.

    During the ongoing Test series between India and the West Indies, all Twitter users who send an appreciative message for Sachin to the @BCCI handle with the #ThankYouSachin hashtag will instantaneously receive a Tweet from @BCCI with a momentous picture of Sachin, including a personalised message and signature in his handwriting.

    Since @BCCI announced the integration in a series of Tweets this morning, thousands of fans have participated, including several cricketers like Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir, to receive their own personal picture of Sachin.

    @BCCI is encouraging its audiences to connect and tweet multiple times – via the web, TV and more – as there are many different images and messages that fans can avail of. The integration will be live, while the Kolkata and Mumbai Tests are being played. The service is supported by Twitter India and Digigraph.me. Twitter India applauded the service in a blog post this morning.

    BCCI Honorary Secretary Sanjay Patel said: “Twitter has changed the way our fans, here and everywhere, stay connected to our sport and its personalities. We at the BCCI have always believed and invested in the power of mobile, digital and social. On the occasion of Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement, we’re delighted to work with Twitter and Digigraph and offer our fans this opportunity to thank Sachin and take home a piece of history.”

    Twitter India market director Rishi Jaitly said: “Twitter is the world’s leading real-time information network where users follow, share and experience content that is live, public and conversational. In India, Twitter has brought cricket fans closer to the sport and to cricketers directly and in real time. We applaud the BCCI for harnessing the power of our platform and launching this #ThankYouSachin campaign with Digigraph.”

    Digigraph founder and CEO Barry Berkowitz said: “Digigraph.me is humbled and proud to help the BCCI and Twitter honour legendary Cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, on the eve of his historic 200th Test for India. Cricket fans around the world can now celebrate this moment by requesting, claiming and sharing personalised, autographed, collectable digital photos from Sachin, instantly from their Twitter newsfeeds.”

  • Star readies for Sachin mania; hopes to create world record

    Star readies for Sachin mania; hopes to create world record

    MUMBAI: Come 14 November and that will be the time when Cricket fans world over will be glued to their TV sets to witness “the little master” wield his bat for the Indian cricket team one last time at his home ground in Mumbai – Wankhede stadium.

    This will mark the end of Sachin Tendulkar’s 24 year long career in the great sport of Cricket. Once Tendulkar had requested the BCCI to play his last competitive game at his home ground, the decision with regard to his farewell Test – also his 200th – was a mere formality earlier this month. As a result, the Cricket Association of Bengal, which had been promised Tendulkar’s 200th before he announced his decision to retire after the Test, was awarded with Tendulkar’s penultimate Test.

    Star India has launched a unique campaign ‘Cheer for Sachin’ to pay tribute to arguably the best cricketer in the world as he gets ready to play the series against the West Indies early next month. The broadcaster is targeting to break the world record for maximum ‘Cheers’ garnered by any campaign ever across the world. Star India has invited Sachin’s fans to cheer “Sachin-Sachin” and break the world record for a hero who has always broken records for India! And the cheer will be played on the broadcast network (Star Sports) as a tribute for the hero.

    The Participants may register his/her telephone number to participate in the activity by calling the number, 505782717, which is valid on Vodafone (Rs 6.00/min), Airtel (Rs 6.00/min), Tata Indicom (Rs 6.00/min), Idea (Rs 6.99/min), Reliance (Rs 6.00/min), BSNL (Mobiles) (Rs 5.00/min) and BSNL (Landline) (Rs 2.40/min) telephone networks only.

    According to the terms and conditions given on starsports.com – The activity opened from 25 October 2013 at 00:00 hours (IST) and will end on 19 November 2013 at 00:00 hours (IST), or on such other dates and times as shall be indicated by ESPN Star Sports India. No entries from before or after the activity period will be accepted.

    The response has been very encouraging with stars from Bollywood, Cricket as well as TV recording their cheers. Stars like Priyanka Chopra, Prosenjit Chaterjee, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Wasim Akram, Rameez Raza and protagonists from the leading serials on Star Plus like Diya Aur Baati Hum and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai have already recorded their cheers. The broadcaster has also reached out to Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary (The guy who is often seen in the stadiums in body paint cheering for Sachin) – regarded by many as the biggest Sachin fan to record a special cheer for this campaign.

    Speaking on the occasion, Star India EVP – marketing and communications Gayatri Yadav says: “For 24 years, the legend has stood for a billion…and now it’s time for a billion to stand for one.  It’s our time to cheer for the little master. We are honoured that Sachin’s farewell series will be played on our network. Our philosophy has been to take fans closer to their heroes because as the official broadcasters we play the critical role of an enabler. We are extending the invitation to all Sachin fans through this campaign to come out and thank the little master for a wonderful career in which he took Indian cricket to newer heights.”

    Yadav adds: “We are aiming for the World Record. Sachin has made innumerable records during his memorable career; it’s time that his fans make this record as a grand tribute. We believe there cannot be a bigger opportunity for Sachin fans to show support and be a part of history in making as he gets ready for one last time to play for India.”

    The campaign will run across the Star Sports network as well as Star India network of channels. There will be huge focus on the digital media as well to aggregate all fans for the campaign. The official Facebook and Twitter pages of Star Sports has been buzzing with fans commenting and posting nostalgic moments from the “little master’s past”.  The Star Sports website has also created a separate section dedicated to Sachin on his 24 year long journey in Cricket for India.

    Star India will donate its share of proceeds from the incoming call revenues to an NGO for sports development amongst youth. (As a norm the telcos in India normally share revenues with their partners in a 60:40 or 70:30 ratios. The estimated figure for the donations going towards the NGO could well be running into a few million rupees)

    Star India is pulling out all the stops to make the India West Indies series memorable. Additionally, the broadcaster will use a special FanCam enabling fans to say “I was there” as they enjoy the historic moment.

    The Fan Cam is capable of generating 360 degree extremely high resolution photo of the stadium therefore each and every fan who will be fortunate to be at the stadium on any of the Test match days will be able to zoom into his picture and keep this memory with him for posterity.

    On the programming front, a 10 part documentary series will be dedicated to Sachin – Sachin Ka Safar and The Sachin Journey in Hindi and English language respectively which will be telecast in the month of November. There will be a live show on Sachin – Sachiiiiiiin… Sachin – that will be telecast during the series. A special 24 segment series Sachin Years will also be showcased in the run-up to the historic series. A segment will be dedicated to each of Sachin’s 24 years of international cricket.

  • Star readies for Sachin mania; hopes to create world record

    Star readies for Sachin mania; hopes to create world record

    MUMBAI: Come 14 November and that will be the time when Cricket fans world over will be glued to their TV sets to witness “the little master” wield his bat for the Indian cricket team one last time at his home ground in Mumbai – Wankhede stadium.

     

    This will mark the end of Sachin Tendulkar’s 24 year long career in the great sport of Cricket. Once Tendulkar had requested the BCCI to play his last competitive game at his home ground, the decision with regard to his farewell Test – also his 200th – was a mere formality earlier this month. As a result, the Cricket Association of Bengal, which had been promised Tendulkar’s 200th before he announced his decision to retire after the Test, was awarded with Tendulkar’s penultimate Test.

    Star India has launched a unique campaign ‘Cheer for Sachin’ to pay tribute to arguably the best cricketer in the world as he gets ready to play the series against the West Indies early next month. The broadcaster is targeting to break the world record for maximum ‘Cheers’ garnered by any campaign ever across the world. Star India has invited Sachin’s fans to cheer “Sachin-Sachin” and break the world record for a hero who has always broken records for India! And the cheer will be played on the broadcast network (Star Sports) as a tribute for the hero.

     

    The Participants may register his/her telephone number to participate in the activity by calling the number, 505782717, which is valid on Vodafone (Rs 6.00/min), Airtel (Rs 6.00/min), Tata Indicom (Rs 6.00/min), Idea (Rs 6.99/min), Reliance (Rs 6.00/min), BSNL (Mobiles) (Rs 5.00/min) and BSNL (Landline) (Rs 2.40/min) telephone networks only.

    According to the terms and conditions given on starsports.com – The activity opened from 25 October 2013 at 00:00 hours (IST) and will end on 19 November 2013 at 00:00 hours (IST), or on such other dates and times as shall be indicated by ESPN Star Sports India. No entries from before or after the activity period will be accepted.

     

    The response has been very encouraging with stars from Bollywood, Cricket as well as TV recording their cheers. Stars like Priyanka Chopra, Prosenjit Chaterjee, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Wasim Akram, Rameez Raza and protagonists from the leading serials on Star Plus like Diya Aur Baati Hum and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai have already recorded their cheers. The broadcaster has also reached out to Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary (The guy who is often seen in the stadiums in body paint cheering for Sachin) – regarded by many as the biggest Sachin fan to record a special cheer for this campaign.

    Speaking on the occasion, Star India EVP – marketing and communications Gayatri Yadav says: “For 24 years, the legend has stood for a billion…and now it’s time for a billion to stand for one.  It’s our time to cheer for the little master. We are honoured that Sachin’s farewell series will be played on our network. Our philosophy has been to take fans closer to their heroes because as the official broadcasters we play the critical role of an enabler. We are extending the invitation to all Sachin fans through this campaign to come out and thank the little master for a wonderful career in which he took Indian cricket to newer heights.”

     

    Yadav adds: “We are aiming for the World Record. Sachin has made innumerable records during his memorable career; it’s time that his fans make this record as a grand tribute. We believe there cannot be a bigger opportunity for Sachin fans to show support and be a part of history in making as he gets ready for one last time to play for India.”

     

    The campaign will run across the Star Sports network as well as Star India network of channels. There will be huge focus on the digital media as well to aggregate all fans for the campaign. The official Facebook and Twitter pages of Star Sports has been buzzing with fans commenting and posting nostalgic moments from the “little master’s past”.  The Star Sports website has also created a separate section dedicated to Sachin on his 24 year long journey in Cricket for India.

    Star India will donate its share of proceeds from the incoming call revenues to an NGO for sports development amongst youth. (As a norm the telcos in India normally share revenues with their partners in a 60:40 or 70:30 ratios. The estimated figure for the donations going towards the NGO could well be running into a few million rupees)

     

    Star India is pulling out all the stops to make the India West Indies series memorable. Additionally, the broadcaster will use a special FanCam enabling fans to say “I was there” as they enjoy the historic moment.

     

    The Fan Cam is capable of generating 360 degree extremely high resolution photo of the stadium therefore each and every fan who will be fortunate to be at the stadium on any of the Test match days will be able to zoom into his picture and keep this memory with him for posterity.

     

    On the programming front, a 10 part documentary series will be dedicated to Sachin – Sachin Ka Safar and The Sachin Journey in Hindi and English language respectively which will be telecast in the month of November. There will be a live show on Sachin – Sachiiiiiiin… Sachin – that will be telecast during the series. A special 24 segment series Sachin Years will also be showcased in the run-up to the historic series. A segment will be dedicated to each of Sachin’s 24 years of international cricket.

  • Reliance, Star India, IMG brings ‘Indian Super League’ for football to India

    Reliance, Star India, IMG brings ‘Indian Super League’ for football to India

    MUMBAI: Reliance Industries, Star India and IMG are set to launch the “Indian Super League”, an unrivalled football championship that will foster local talent and feature international stars with the aim of making the game one of the country’s flagship sport and India – a name to reckon with in the global arena.

    The league promises to revolutionise the sport from the very get-go, leveraging the strengths of all three partners who are focused on growing the game to national prominence, offer Indian football greater global exposure and eventually help India qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

    Reliance, India’s largest business enterprise, Star India, the nation’s biggest TV network and entertainment conglomerate, and IMG, a leader in sports management, have a storied tradition of innovation, competitiveness and institutional commitment that will propel the venture, in which the partners will have proportionate stakes. 

    The “Indian Super League” will feature eight city specific teams to start with and will tap the burgeoning interest among the country’s young population that’s increasingly seen taking interest in the sport globally. The League will kick-off in January 2014 and will run through March 2014, with plans for a second window in the same year. 

    Star India, which also owns the broadcast and sponsorship rights, will use its leading network to take the League to millions of households and also monetise the content on and off-field.? Globally, football is world’s favourite sport, ranking highest in terms of participation, number of fans, TV viewership, sponsorship and revenues. Annual global revenue for football globally is estimated at $28 billion, according to a study by AT Kearney. Star India, which also holds telecast rights to BCCI cricket matches in India, will use its superior content creation, packaging and presentation expertise to whet and retain viewer interest. 

    “Football, with its largely untapped potential in the country, has the opportunity to grow to an unrivalled commercial success quite unlike any other sport. We hope the growing football footprint will pave the way for the nation’s sporting renaissance”, said IMG-Reliance chairperson Nita M. Ambani.

    “India is hungry for its second sport. Combined with our expertise in sports production, our attempt is to bring an unparalleled football experience to our viewers”, said Star India CEO Uday Shankar. “For far too long, the Indian sports fan has quietly waited for this revolution on the cusp of which we stand today. Our objective is nothing short of creating a movement around football in India. We want to put India on the global map.”

     

    “The ‘Indian Super League’ will feature international football stars combined with good football facilities, rivalry between India’s biggest cities and the roar of a billion passionate fans,” said IMG Worldwide chairman and CEO Mike Dolan. “It envisions creating new football powerhouses in this part of the world, which will rise to global prominence as the country and the sport further develop.”

    The League will have world-class international players play with the best from India. Each team will have one marquee player, international players and the best of Indian talent. Given India’s burgeoning interest in football and the country’s long association with the sport, the ‘Indian Super League’ is on the threshold of launching a revolutionary new football culture in the country.

    The ‘Indian Super League’ will also implement various football development projects aimed at holistic development of the sport in the country, including engaging with the masses to get them excited about football, encouraging families to regularly involve their children in football, creating an infrastructure to identify talented footballers at a young age and groom them into elite professionals and creating a critical mass of highly talented coaches to work at all levels of football in India.