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Tag: BCCI

  • Star Sports IPL promo tugs on fans’ emotional heartstrings

    Star Sports IPL promo tugs on fans’ emotional heartstrings

    Mumbai: The excitement has been building up amongst sports fans with the clock counting down to 19 September when the first ball of the Dream11 IPL 2020  will be bowled at the Dubai International Sports Stadium in the UAE. On the field will be fierce rivals –  the men in blue (Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians) and the men in yellow (Mahendra Singh ‘Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings). Millions will be watching it on the big screen on the Disney Star India channels in seven languages or on Hotstar on their handsets.

    To  further whip up the emotional frenzy and inform fans that the IPL is back in its full glory to entertain them, Star Sports has launched  a promo – ‘Ek Saath Waali Baat. The promo encapsulates the mood of the nation, which continues to be puzzled and troubled by the ravages the Covid2019 pandemic is leaving in its wake, but it spotlight on the stories of hope and instances of people helping each other, neighbors sharing prospective job opportunities with those who have been laid off and a community welcoming a doctor with flowers as he returns from work. Additionally, it features a chef Youtube influencer who cooks and feeds those who are less privileged.

    “The  new campaign captures this feeling of togetherness while driving the message of hope and support, which has been critical in these trying times,” explained the Star Sports releae.

    “As a country, we have always come together during testing times and we have seen the same over the last few months. There has been a greater sense of community and empathy that has demonstrated the resilience of the human spirit. The Ek Saath Waali Baa’ campaign has been created with this same ethos. Dream11 IPL is the most-watched sporting event in the country and this year, it is even more special. The campaign builds on the sense of community and signals towards the much-needed emotion of hope,” added Star Sports CEO Gautam Thakar in the release.

    Keeping in mind the nationwide fandom for the tournament, the TVC will be released in multiple languages including Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi. Dream11 IPL has always evoked intense emotions amongst its vociferous fans and this time too, Star Sports promises to bring back the same thrill.

    The TVC also highlights the fact that the  second matche of each day is being played half an hour earlier at 7:30 pm, unlike last year when they began at 8 pm, which means audiences will stay glued to each clash till it ends.

    Every year the sports broadcaster launches a high-decibel campaign to promote the tournament. 

    In 2019, Star Sports and BCCI launched an interesting campaign GameBanayegaName. The film was conceptualized by Taproot Dentsu. It opened with a split-screen battle between young players in a maidan on one side and established VIVO IPL stars on the other, vying to grab screen space.

    In the same year,  team India captain Virat Kohli took it upon himself to bring happiness to the children of the nation. In collaboration with Star Sports, he launched the ‘Let Kids Play’ campaign which urged parents to allow kids to go out and play. The campaign focused on how outdoor activities build character, personality and leadership qualities in kids.

    The 2018 TVC  for the IPL asked “Kaun Jitega?” or “Who Will Win?” It was released in six languages, depicting the IPL as a Battle of Tigers – Sher vs Sher. The campaign portrayed a young child posing the question to all around him – as to who would win when two tigers take on each other? As his question goes unanswered by everyone, his father takes him to watch an IPL match, concluding that, when one the feline animal takes on another, the tiger is always the winner. The multi-lingual campaign actually helped promote the Star Sports efforts to invite viewers to watch the game in their native language and not just in Hindi or English.  

    It  was conceived and conceptualized by the Star Sports creative team and directed by Shlok Sharma in Bundelkhand and Prakash Varma of Nirvana Films in Hindi, along with Vijay Prabakaran in Tamil.

  • BCCI ropes in CRED as official partner for IPL 2020

    BCCI ropes in CRED as official partner for IPL 2020

    he Board of Control for Cricket in India has brought CRED, an online credit card bill payment platform, as the official partner for Indian Premier League 2020.

    BCCI announces the development on Twitter.

    The other brands that have associated with IPL as sponsors include Dream11, Unacademy, Paytm, CEAT, and Tata Motors. Interestingly, a lot of startups are backing the tournament this year.

    CRED is a well-funded startup that enables its users to pay their credit card bills and helps them earn rewards for it. It was launched in 2018 and has raised several rounds of funding. The app has over 3 million users and offer features such as CRED RentPay, CRED Stash and others.

    The 13th IPL is scheduled to be held in UAE from September 19 to November 10.

  • Uday Shankar speaks up about IPL 2020 in Covid times

    Uday Shankar speaks up about IPL 2020 in Covid times

    MUMBAI: Disney Star India chairman Uday Shankar seems to thrive in crisis moments. The ongoing pandemic seems to have brought out the best in the former journo. The world’s most prestigious and valued cricket tournament the Indian Premier League (IPL) – on which he had betted big three years ago by bidding unheard of acquisition fees – is taking place in the UAE come 19 September after it was aborted in March end.  For only the third time in its 13 years of  existence it is being held in a foreign land.

    And it's taking place in very trying circumstances:  Covid 2019 is on a rampage in India and cases are rapidly rising every day and the CSK team has reported that one of its players and many of its staffers have contracted the SARSCov2 virus – that’s even before a single ball has been bowled.

    Hence, Uday and his team are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that it runs smoothly at least from the broadcast end. Speaking to The Times of India, he said that “Star has been working on its own bio-secure bubble. The challenge that has been presented to my team is to deliver an exciting IPL, while keeping every crew member and team member totally safe from the pandemic. That remains our top priority. It’s not an easy one because there are no global role models for something like this.”

    The Disney Star India team has put in place the bio-secure bubble in Mumbai to accomodate 400-plus staffers across six floors of the production facility which has been set up for the IPL.  Staffers will be rigorously tested – pre-screened, tested before taking them in and periodic testing will be resorted during their stay in the production hub. “Stringent sanitization and social distancing protocols at production facilities and multiple zones are being set up to keep teams separated,” explained Uday. 

    He added that the same stringent Covid-related protocols will be followed for 65-70 days at the three stadiums with around 700 plus crew and around 90 commentators working across UAE, India and globally.

    The crew’s output will reach 100 countries, result in seven fully customised broadcast feeds across languages and 18 hours of daily live and special programming around the IPL, Uday further shared.

    “IPL has gone out of India twice, but this exercise is going to be phenomenal… The BCCI is the umbrella under which everybody operates, and they have a right to expect full safety and reassurance from us …The onus is on us to take the responsibility,” he said. “The protocol we’ve designed for this IPL can become a global benchmark for any tournament to be held safely….In the end, we all know, it’s a virus and anything can happen, but we would like to have a very clear conscience that we put our best foot forward.”

    Even though there won’t be spectators in the stadia in Abhu Dhabi, Sharjah and Duba, Uday expects TV viewership to cross 550 million in India across live broadcast and beyond live programming. “There’s been a massive drought of live sport. People have been in a state of mind where they need a break from the last few months and IPL is ideally positioned for that. We are very focused on making sure the fan experience at home is not impacted. Technology has only made the engagement of the fans deeper and wider,” he averred.

    Uday further highlighted that the IPL coming back could be viewed in a more positive light. “At a time when the country has been gripped by concerns, and people have mostly been spending time locked indoors, something as important to their lives as the IPL coming back is highly symbolic of the triumph of things positive over things negative,” he expounded. “IPL is India’s only global brand and one of the top sports properties globally too. This year’s IPL is a professional and personal commitment.”

  • Dream11’s Harsh Jain-speak on the fantasy games leap

    Dream11’s Harsh Jain-speak on the fantasy games leap

    NEW DELHI: Fantasy sports platform Dream11 hit the headlines in early August when its bid of Rs 220 crore for the title sponsorship of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 came out tops, beating back the offers from larger firms. And it polevaulted its founders Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth into the limelight once again.

    Set up by the duo in 2008, the Mumbai-based company has more than 80 million users and is the first gaming startup from India to attain unicorn status, an industry term for startups valued above Rs 6,500 crore ($1 billion).

    With an array of top-notch investment firms across the globe, including Kalaari Capital, Multiples Equity, Tencent Holdings and Steadview Capital Management, Dream11 is one of the most stable and thriving start-up ecosystems. Dream11 has expanded its offerings with Fancode, DreamX, Dream Sports Investments, Dream Sports Foundation, DreamSetGo, and DreamPay.  

    According to various media reports, the company spent Rs 785.08 crore on advertising and promotions during FY19, as against Rs 230.30 crore in FY18.

    Speaking at the Internet and Mobile Association of India’s (IAMAI’s) Marketing Conclave on 28 August, Jain explained why he chose to put Dream11’s hat in the IPL title sponsorship ring. "IPL will break all records this year as one billion people stuck at home due to pandemic will definitely watch the sporting event. Our successful associations with IPL in the past gave us courage too,” he said.

    With the Dream11 brand being hammered home all through the tournament, it’s quite likely that an additional few million might chose to download the app and get engaged with the fascinating opportunity to play the skill based matches. Of course, the app would further get embedded into young and old India’s minds.

    During his address, Jain highlighted the need to focus on product development more than on marketing. “I see a lot of products today which use marketing right from the start. I believe it is the wrong thing to do,” he pointed out. “First, you need to develop a product fit for the market and once it is achieved, you should then go for scaling it.”

    Jain explained that in 2008 when IPL was launched in India, it did so without any fantasy games. But today most sports in India cannot be imagined without a fantasy game element. Then there were the naysayers who dissuaded Jain, whose father Anand is a close associate of ace entrepreneur Mukesh Ambani, from foraying into the space when he returned to India after his education in the US.

    "All marketing pundits told us that fantasy games won’t bloom in India and it will be a complete failure, but we succeeded. It was during this time when Sheth (currently serving as a co-founder & COO) joined me in this journey," Harsh elaborated.  

    The initial three years were tough. The company suffered a cash crunch and other obstacles, but what kept them going was their digital agency, Red Digital, which managed social media accounts for  Discovery Networks, Reliance Foundation, and Mumbai Indians to name a few.  By 2012, the company had decided to go ahead with the freemium single match business.

     “Indian consumers don’t like to commit long term to certain products, they like instant gratification and high engagement.Since the time we have focused on organic reach, growth hacking, and targeted digital marketing . We focused on things like virality and getting users to invite their friends,” Jain shared.

    In 2014, the company reported a million registered users, which grew to 45 million in 2018. Last year, the company reported having more than a 80 million user base.

    Jain admitted, "From 2017 we started partnering with leagues and signed Harsha Bhogle as our first brand ambassador. In 2018, we roped in MS Dhoni and started TV advertising for the very first time, and launched the Dimaag Se Dhoni marketing campaign during the IPL 2018 ."  

    Like any other brand, Dream11 faced hurdles in its growth journey, and the biggest challenge was not being available on Google Play store, a hurdle they surmounted.

    “It has been a difficult journey to convince people to download our apps as an APK and answer questions about why we are not on play store. But if people find value, they will find it," Jain said.  

    According to the 2019 report published by the Indian Federation of Sports Gaming (IFSG) and KPMG, the number of fantasy sports operators saw 7x growth during 2016-2018, while the number of users grew by over 25x between June 2016 and February 2019.

    The report also pointed out that the overall revenue of fantasy sports in India saw a three-fold growth from Rs 920 crore in FY19 to Rs 2,470 crore in FY20. As per IFSG-KPMG report, Dream11 commands 90 per cent market share.

  • Why IPL2020 makes sense for marketers and brands

    Why IPL2020 makes sense for marketers and brands

    MUMBAI: The countdown to the 2020 season of India’s biggest sports extravaganza – the Indian Premier League (IPL) – has begun. Come 19 September, more than a billion eyes will be riveted on their TV screens as the first ball of the first match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings is bowled at 7.30 pm.  It does not get better than this for IPL fans, for whom it will be a revisit of the 2019 finals when the Mumbai lads beat the southern team by a whisker of a run, in a heart-stopping duel.

    The 2020 league, which is one of the most premium in the world, is coming at a time when brands sorely need to get back into the consumer’s mindset. Most marketing mavens believe there has been an erosion in brand love among consumers.  Thanks to the disruption in supply chains, consumers have hitherto been okay with buying products rather than their favourite brands. The percentage of shoppers buying online has leapfrogged, footfalls in brick and mortar stores have dived. The humungous response to the Flipkart and Amazon sales in the past two weeks shows customers want to spend and that demand is there.

    Observers believe that big brands which have refrained or cut back their communication with consumers need to get back with their mesmerising and engaging TV and digital commercials so that the consumer connect gets forged once again.

    “Even as the cases are going up, consumer confidence is slowly but surely coming back,” says Group M head of entertainment and sport Vineet Karnik.

    As time goes by, consumers will increasingly go out, spend and the economy will surely follow, or that is the corollary.

    “Marketers believe the IPL is a good opportunity to give a boost to that consumer sentiment even further,” says IPG Media Brands CEO Shashi Sinha

    Sinha had been quoted sometime back in an interview that the IPL is a tentpole property, the biggest in India. “Television is anyway fragmented. The highest ratings come on IPL in India. IPL is the only platform which allows you that single window to reach masses, audiences. Our brands have consistently used it for some time now,” he had said.

    What will make cricket an even bigger audience builder this year is the fact that viewers have not got to watch Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli play for a large part of 2020. Clearly, the desire for sports has been bottled up and is expected to explode into a frenzy of viewing between September and November. Fans are raring to go and have been tweeting, posting their joy, annoyance and opinions on every social media and blogging platform. 

    All thanks to being locked down courtesy the virus, India and Indians have been consuming more content – video, audio, games and what have you – in heavy doses and binges. Data shows that TV consumption is up over 15 per cent (source: BARC) as compared to pre-Covid2019 times, and it is unlikely to slow down, and in fact will sharply accelerate northwards.

    The BCCI has also rejigged the match timings, which should augur well for TV viewers and advertisers. Instead of 2019’s 4 pm and 8 pm starts, the matches in the UAE will now commence at 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm IST respectively. The 3.30 slot will end up extending into early prime, while the 7.30 pm match will end during peak primetime when audiences will also be at their peak. 

    The biggest USP of the IPL, a media observer points out, is that it provides for a very good advertising environment with less clutter. Ad breaks average 50 seconds, means that four to five TV commercials can be played out.  The free commercial time per hour during the IPL is also limited at 800 seconds per hour, as compared to other genres where it crosses 920 seconds and some time goes up to as high as 1,120 seconds. All this works well for brands as the OTS on commercial and engagement goes up.

    Sinha is as optimistic – if not more – today with IPL’s prospects than he was three months ago. “I genuinely believe the IPL will do very well with viewers,” he said. “Some of our smaller brands are also asking us to put their spends behind it. The advertisers will definitely give it a good shot at giving a good push to their businesses.”

    Shall we say amen to that?

  • BCCI invites third party interest for IPL title sponsorship rights

    BCCI invites third party interest for IPL title sponsorship rights

    KOLKATA: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has invited third parties to express their interest (EOI) in acquiring the title sponsorship rights for the Indian Premier League 2020 (IPL) to be held in the United Arab Emirates from 19 September 2020 to 10 November 2020.

    The rights are available for the period from 18 August 2020 to 31 December 2020. The turnover of the interested third party must be over Rs 300 crore as per the last audited accounts.

    The BCCI confirmed on 6 August that Vivo will not be the title sponsor for IPL 2020 which signed a five-year sponsorship deal in 2018. The title sponsorship is a large source of IPL revenue.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, it is clarified that marketing agency/agents are not eligible to bid and any bid submitted by a marketing agency/agent shall be rejected at the outset,” BCCI added.

    The rights and the product categories will be discussed after the delivery of EOIs, with each third party having submitted an EOI and to clarify, third parties need not include any indicative level of fees for acquiring the rights in their EOIs. 

    “For the avoidance of doubt, it is clarified that BCCI shall not be obliged to award the rights to the third party which indicates willingness to pay the highest fees in the course of discussions/ negotiations with BCCI after submitting an EOI. BCCI’s decision in this regard will also depend on a number of other relevant factors, including but not limited to, the manner in which the third party intends to exploit the rights and the potential impact of the same on brand IPL as also the fan/ viewer experience, which will be examined/ evaluated by BCCI in the course of discussions/ negotiations with interested third parties who submit an EOI,” BCCI stated. 

    Each EOI has to reach BCCI’s relevant email id by 5 pm IST on 14 August. Any EOIs received after this deadline will not be considered unless BCCI decides otherwise at its sole discretion. Post-delivery of the EOI, BCCI shall inform the rights, product categories and entitlements to the interested third parties. The final bid should be sent to the board between 11 am to 1 pm on 18 August 2020. 

  • #BoycottIPL trends as Vivo retains title sponsorship

    #BoycottIPL trends as Vivo retains title sponsorship

    NEW DELHI: Talk about brand image and India’s favourite sporting tournament, Indian Premier League (IPL), has found itself in a tough spot after the news of it retaining Chinese mobile brand Vivo as its title sponsor came out last evening. Soon after, #BoycottIPL started trending across social media sites. 

    There has been a great rise in the anti-China sentiment in India following the Galwan valley clash between the South-Asian neighbours at the beginning of June. People have been boycotting Chinese goods and the announcement has left a sour taste in the fans’ mouth, who were eagerly waiting for the tournament to start, which was delayed because of the Covid2019 pandemic. 

    BCCI Treasurer Arun Dhumal reportedly told PTI, "When you talk emotionally, you tend to leave the rationale behind. We have to understand the difference between supporting a Chinese company for a Chinese cause or taking help from Chinese company to support India's cause. When we are allowing Chinese companies to sell their products in India, whatever money they are taking from Indian consumer, they are paying part of it to the BCCI (as brand promotion) and the board is paying 42 per cent tax on that money to the Indian government. So, that is supporting India's cause and not China's.” 

    However, the audience is possibly not buying the logic, as they are swarming Twitter with their displeasure:

  • IPL 2020 to be held from 19 September to 8 November

    IPL 2020 to be held from 19 September to 8 November

    KOLKATA: The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 has finally got its dates. It will commence on 19 September and the final will be played on 8 November. The T-20 league will be held in the UAE, pending clearance from the Indian government.

    The tournament was originally scheduled to start at the end of March but was postponed indefinitely due to the Covid2019 crisis. Recently BCCI decided to hold the tournament in the UAE as the number of cases are rising rapidly in India. Moreover, ICC postponing the Men's T20 World Cup opened up the window for IPL to be held.

    According to reports, the IPL governing council will meet next week to chalk out the final schedule. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly repeatedly expressed his strong will that the tournament will be held this year. 

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  • IPL2020 window opens; UAE likely destination

    IPL2020 window opens; UAE likely destination

    MUMBAI: Cricket lovers – specially those who thrive on the short format of the game, the T20 – can now rejoice. The IPL 2020,  which was scheduled to begin on 29 March, but had to be called off on account of the SARS Cov2 virus, is finally set to take place, the IPL chairman Brijesh Patel announced today. It will be a full-fledged IPL, with 60 games in all, and is most likely to take place in the UAE between September and November.

    A window of opportunity to go ahead with the IPL popped open on account of the ICC’s decision to postpone the T20 World Cup to next year from its earlier schedule of October-November. Patel added that the IPL had applied to the government for permission to go ahead with its decision to hold it in the UAE.  The IPL governing council is scheduled to meet in a week to 10 days to thrash out the details of the tournament.

    In June 2020, the UAE had offered to host the league, which had a valuation of $6.7 billion in 2020 according to consulting firm Duff & Phelps, saying it had the required infrastructure to host the entire tournament. In fact, the tournament was held in the UAE in 2014 on account of the central elections in India. According to some estimates, the BCCI would stand to lose $500 million if the IPL was canceled for this year.

    The development should come as much needed good news to Star India head honcho Uday Shankar who has seen an 80 per cent drop in revenues at Disney Star India courtesy the IPL being a non-event in March. He, however, has a challenge on his hands: getting the right value from sponsor-advertiser-partners who normally associate with the IPL for the air time on the Star India network during the telecast of the matches. Advertisers have been having a gala time, going in for volume deals, discounting air time rates drastically, on general entertainment channels, which recently launched new episodes after three months of archival repeats. The belief at the Star network is that advertisers will start opening their wallets by October – which is the festival time – and will be more than open to splurge to target consumers who have been starved of sporting action for more than four months already. 

  • BCCI appoints Hemang Amin as interim CEO

    BCCI appoints Hemang Amin as interim CEO

    NEW DELHI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has appointed Hemang Amin as interim CEO. BCCI secretary Jay Shah informed the affiliates in an email on Monday. Amin has been serving as the CEO of IPL. His appointment comes days after BCCI accepted Rahul Johri's resignation last week. The board will likely appoint a permanent CEO soon.

    “As you might be aware, Rahul Johri who was the CEO has resigned and is now no longer with BCCI. We have appointed Hemang Amin, COO, IPL as the interim CEO of the BCCI,” Shah wrote in an email to all the BCCI affiliates late on Monday evening, as per media reports. 

    After short stints at the Bombay Stock Exchange and Deutsche Bank, Amin joined the IPL operations team in June 2010. He was appointed the COO soon after Sundar Raman resigned in November 2015.