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Tag: Champions League

  • Carlsberg and Liverpool FC recreate a miracle

    Carlsberg and Liverpool FC recreate a miracle

    MUMBAI: It’s time to raise a can to one of football’s greatest comebacks! To mark 20 years of Liverpool FC’s unforgettable “Miracle of Istanbul”, Carlsberg India has unveiled the Carlsberg smooth limited-edition ‘Miracle of 2005’ Can, a stylish tribute to the night the Reds turned a 3–0 deficit into Champions League glory.

    The campaign, aptly titled Live the Miracle, invites fans across Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Goa to relive the emotion of that night, one sip at a time. The can design fuses Liverpool’s iconic red with Carlsberg’s signature green, featuring timestamps of every pivotal moment from the match, echoing the highs, lows, and that unforgettable lift of the trophy.

    But the celebration doesn’t stop at the can. Through the campaign, fans can step into goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek’s shoes in an interactive online game accessed via Carlsberg India’s Instagram or QR codes on retail displays. Winners stand to claim exclusive prizes, from Carlsberg x Liverpool FC merchandise and screenings with club legends to an all-expense-paid trip to Anfield.

    “The Miracle of 2005 is more than just a match, it’s a story of resilience and passion,” said Carlsberg India vice president – marketing Partha Jha. “With ‘Live the Miracle’, we’re not just commemorating that night; we’re bringing it alive for Indian fans through experiences that go far beyond watching the game.”

    The partnership between Carlsberg and Liverpool FC dates back to 1992, making it one of football’s longest-running collaborations. From the treble of 2001 to the miracle of 2005, the Carlsberg logo has stood proudly on the Reds’ chest through their most iconic victories.

    Now, two decades later, that spirit of belief and camaraderie is bubbling over once again, in every limited-edition can that invites fans to live the miracle, sip by sip.
     

  • Relevent scores big: agency nets lucrative UEFA club competitions deal worth billions

    Relevent scores big: agency nets lucrative UEFA club competitions deal worth billions

    MUMBAI: In a stunning transfer move, UC3 has announced that American agency Relevent has won the prized global marketing and sales rights for UEFA men’s club competitions from 2027 to 2033.

    The six-year partnership, which followed what sources describe as a fierce bidding war, will see Relevent take the reins from long-standing partner Team Marketing, ending a three-decade relationship that has transformed European club football into a commercial juggernaut.

    Relevent, a part of billionaire Stephen Ross’s commercial empire, sweet-talked its way to victory after entering an exclusive negotiation period with UC3 in February. The agency, which already handles UEFA’s media rights in the US, will now build a dedicated company focused solely on squeezing every last euro from the Champions League and its less glamorous siblings.

    UC3, the joint venture between UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA), went weak at the knees over what it described as Relevent’s “innovative, dynamic and forward-looking vision” for the competitions.

    “We believe that this deal will help us remain at the vanguard of an ever evolving and changing landscape,” gushed UC3 co-managing director Guy-Laurent Epstein, carefully avoiding any mention of the eye-watering sums surely involved in the arrangement.

    The deal encompasses the marketing and sale of commercial rights for the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Youth League, and UEFA Futsal Champions League.

    Relevent will handle media rights, sponsorship, licensing, account management, and “associated services”—corporate speak for the myriad ways in which modern football extracts cash from fans and brands alike.

    UC3 co-managing director Charlie Marshall spoke of “driving a step change” and “taking us to the next level,” suggesting the new partnership aims to squeeze even more revenue from competitions that already generate billions each season.

    The switch marks a brutal end to Team Marketing’s 30-year relationship with UEFA’s club competitions. The Swiss-based agency, which helped transform the European Cup into the commercial behemoth now known as the Champions League, will continue managing the current 2024-27 cycle before being unceremoniously substituted.

    In the corporate equivalent of a perfunctory pat on the back after a crushing defeat, UC3 offered its “thanks to Team Marketing for the strong partnership over the past three decades,” before swiftly moving on to praise its new American suitor.

    The agency switch comes on the heels of UEFA’s controversial new competition format, which replaced the traditional group stage with a “league phase” featuring more matches—a change that critics suggest was driven primarily by commercial rather than sporting considerations.

    Relevent chief executive & co-founder Danny Sillman described the UEFA competitions as “some of the most iconic and historic properties in global sports,” promising to “deliver on the potential for growth with fans and commercial partners around the world”—a statement that will likely send shivers down the spines of match-going supporters already priced out of the modern game.

    Industry insiders suggest the bidding process was fiercely competitive, with several global agencies vying for what remains football’s most lucrative commercial property. The sales process for the 2027 to 2033 cycles is expected to kick off by summer 2025, giving Relevent ample time to prepare its pitch to broadcasters and sponsors.

    While financial details of the arrangement remain under wraps, the deal undoubtedly represents one of the most valuable commercial partnerships in global sport, with billions potentially at stake over the six-year term.

  • A Glance at sports TV globally during Covid2019

    A Glance at sports TV globally during Covid2019

    NEW DELHI: In a year mostly devoid of outdoors action, it came as no big surprise that when live sports resumed in the form of the IPL 2020, it set new viewership records. In a similar fashion, season seven of the ISL is also performing very well, further speaking to the love of football in India.

    But how did sports television fare in other parts of the globe? How did sports buffs in other nations get by for months when live sport was a no-no?

    The 2020 edition of the Yearly Sport Key Facts will give you a clue. Brought out by Glance, a specialist of international TV markets, the report states that months into the Coronavirus pandemic, sports fans are eagerly awaiting the return of sports on television and that the year will forever be an unprecedented season in the history of worldwide sports.

    “The broadcast sports offer during the 2019-20 season has logically declined, but audience successes have also been recorded in many countries, particularly with the resumption of competitions after lockdown,” said Glance sport director Yassine Berhoun.

    She should know: her agency provides official TV ratings for over 7,000 channels in more than 120 territories.

    As all the sports competitions from March to June were cancelled, right holders and broadcasters were left with no option but to reinvent themselves to offer attractive content to sports enthusiasts during lockdown.

    Some channels in European countries showed reruns of the greatest triumphs of their national teams. In France, the L’Equipe channel broadcast several matches from the 2018 World Cup, including France’s win in the final against Croatia, which attracted more than 600,000 viewers.  Similar strategies were adopted in Germany and Spain.

    Virtual events were also set up to make up for the absence of live sports. In northern Belgium, the broadcast of the virtual Tour of Flanders on EEN, where 13 riders were facing each other on a cycling simulation, was watched by more than 600,000 viewers with an audience share of 56 per cent.

    In the United States, the ESPN channel aired The Last Dance documentary series about the final season (1997-98) of the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan’s basketball team. The eagerly awaited documentary created a buzz and was watched on average by more than 6.7 million TV viewers for an average audience share of 7.8 per cent, the biggest audience in history for an ESPN documentary.

    The games have returned, but are still being played behind closed doors. One of the first football competitions to resume was the Bundesliga, the German league which was broadcast by the Sky Group in Germany. The first post-lockdown day broadcast thus achieved an audience of more than 2.5 million fans.

    In Italy, the final of the Coppa Italia between Napoli and Juventus in June achieved the best audience of the season with 10.2 million viewers and a market share of 39.3 per cent on Rai 1, which is three million more viewers than the 2019 final.

    Another highly anticipated competition, the Champions League, made its comeback in August in a new format. The final between Paris Saint Germain and Bayern Munich got the best sports audience of the season in France and Germany.

    In the 2019/20 season, six of the top ten sports audiences of the season were for Coppa Italia games, according to Glance.

    The winter sports narrowly escaped the lockdown, with only a few final events cancelled at the beginning of the health crisis. In Austria, Slovenia, Norway, Poland and Sweden, TV viewing of winter sports accounted for over 40 per cent of all sports viewed between September 2019 and August 2020. 

    LINK TO THE REPORT : https://www.glance-mediametrie.com/en/yearly-sport-key-facts-2020

  • UEFA postpones Euro Cup 2020 by 12 months amid coronavirus scare

    UEFA postpones Euro Cup 2020 by 12 months amid coronavirus scare

    MUMBAI: As speculated, the once-in-four-year soccer event, Euro Cup 2020, has been postponed by a year amid the novel coronavirus scare, confirms Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in a press statement. The flagship national team competition was scheduled to start on 12 June.

    The UEFA’s official statement reads: “The health of all those involved in the game is the priority and to avoid placing any unnecessary pressure on national public services involved in staging matches. This move will help all domestic competitions (Champions League and Europa League), currently on hold due to the COVID-19 emergency, to be completed.”

    “All UEFA competitions and matches (including friendlies) for clubs and national teams for both men and women have been put on hold until further notice. The UEFA EURO 2020 play-off matches and international friendlies, scheduled for the end of March, will now be played in the international window at the start of June, subject to a review of the situation,” the statement further reads.

    UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin says: “Moving EURO 2020 comes at a huge cost for UEFA but we will do our best to ensure that the vital funding for grassroots, women's football and the development of the game in our 55 countries, is not affected. Purpose over profit has been our guiding principle in taking this decision for the good of European football as a whole.”

    Meanwhile, the associations have also set up a working group with the participation of leagues and club representatives to examine calendar solutions that would allow for the completion of the current season and any other consequence of the decisions made today, says the statement.

    The decision was taken by UEFA's Executive Committee followed video-conference meetings held with the presidents and general secretaries of the 55 national associations, and representatives of the European Club Association, European Leagues and FIFPro Europe, convened by UEFA President.

    “The health of fans, staff and players has to be our number one priority and, in that spirit, UEFA tabled a range of options so that competitions can finish this season safely and I am proud of the response of my colleagues across European football," said UEFA president during the announcement.

    UEFA Euro Cup 2020 was scheduled to take place in 12 cities across Europe from 12 June to 12 July 2020. The proposed new dates are from 11 June to 11 July 2021.

    UEFA also assured its existing ticket buyers and hospitality clients that if they cannot attend the tournament in 2021, the face value of their tickets and packages will be refunded in full. And, within a month refund process, will be communicated via email and on euro2020.com/tickets.

    Over a dozen of football players and a coach are infected by the novel coronavirus alone in Europe. The virus that first appeared in Wuhan, China has been spread over 100 countries. At least 7000 people infected have succumbed to the virus and over 1.8 lakh people have been affected so far.

    The postponement is a big toll on the pockets of sponsors, advertisers and football enthusiasts who were all set to experience the mesmerizing soccer event that was supposed to be held across Europe. Italy is the third most-affected country in the world with over 10,000 confirmed cases. 

  • FY-2015: Subscription growth leads Sky revenue growth of 4.7%; EPS declines 2%

    FY-2015: Subscription growth leads Sky revenue growth of 4.7%; EPS declines 2%

    BENGALURU: London, UK headquartered pan-European satellite broadcasting, on-demand Internet streaming media, broadband and telephone services company Sky reported 4.7 per cent broad based total adjusted revenue growth for the year ended 30 June, 2015 (FY-2015) at ?11,2083 million as compared to the ?10,776 million in the previous year (FY-2014). Subscription is the biggest contributor to Sky’s revenue. The group’s revenue growth in the current year was led by a 4.6 per cent increment in adjusted subscription revenue at ?9697 million (85.9 per cent of total revenue) as compared to the ?9272 million (86 per cent of total revenue) in FY-2014.

     

    Across its five territories (UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy), the group reported 973,000 new customer additions in FY-2015, 45 per cent more than previous year, and 158,000 new customers in Q4-2015. Subscription revenue growth was underpinned by excellent customer growth across the group and strong product growth of 4.6 million (829,000 in Q4-2015), with the largest proportion of revenue growth continuing to be delivered through the UK where revenues were up over ?300 million. Alongside this, the group’s best year of customer growth in Germany drove a 10 per cent increase in subscription revenues, whilst Italy held total customers and revenue flat.

     

    Other segments

     

    Sky’s advertising revenue in FY-2015 grew 3.8 per cent to ?716 million (6.3 per cent of total revenue) as compared to the ?690 million (6.4 per cent of total revenue) in FY-2014. Sky attributes growth in advertising revenues with Germany delivering growth of 26 per cent through higher sellout rates and increased inventory around Bundesliga. Advertising revenues in the UK grew strongly, up five per cent, due to the benefit of incremental AdSmart revenues combined with Sky Media increasing their share of net advertising revenue by almost 170 basis points, whilst advertising revenue was down in Italy as we lapped the €27 million benefit of the FIFA World Cup revenues in Q4 last year.

     

    Transactional revenue increased 21.8 per cent to ?173 million (1.8 per cent of total revenue) in FY-2015 as compared to the ?142 million (1.3 per cent of total revenue) in the previous fiscal. Sky says that it benefited from the success of its Buy and Keep service, which surpassed weekly revenue of ?1 million in Q4-2015, and NOW TV transactions, which totaled almost 1.5 million over the past twelve months.

     

    Sky’s wholesale and syndication revenue in the current year increased 5 per cent to ?550 million (4.9 per cent of total revenue) as compared to the ?524 million (5 per cent of total revenue) in FY-2014. Sky says that growth was largely driven by continued growth in the UK where revenues were up 19 per cent as success on screen led to more favourable terms for our channels with wholesale partners. Alongside this, revenues were strong through the distribution of our programming internationally and the first time consolidation of Znak&Jones and Love Productions. In Italy, underlying wholesale revenues were broadly flat year on year (excluding the benefit in the prior year from Champions League resale revenues), whilst revenues in Germany were slightly down following the successful migration of former Deutsche Telekom wholesale customers to a retail relationship in the prior year.

     

    Other revenue was almost flat (declined fractionally) to ?147 million (1.3 per cent of total revenue) as compared to the ?148 million (1.37 per cent of total revenue) in the previous year.

     

    Adjusted profit before tax increased 5.9 per cent to ?1196 million as compared to ?1129 million in FY-2014. Adjusted EPS declined 1.9 per cent to 56p as compared to the 57.1p in the previous year

  • BCCI reports lower gross media rights income in 2013-14

    BCCI reports lower gross media rights income in 2013-14

    MUMBAI: The annual report of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the financial year 2013 – 14 shows a decline in gross media rights income as it dipped from Rs 774.24 crore  to Rs 419.38 crore. The honourary treasurer of the board Anirudh Chaudhry blamed lack of international action in India for the dip in media rights income. During the year of consideration, the annual gross receipts from international tours was Rs 193.52 crore as against the Rs 216.02 crore in the previous year.   

     

    BCCI’s million dollar baby Indian Premier League (IPL) did not disappoint the treasurer. Gross receipts from IPL 2013 were Rs 1194 crore as against Rs 892 crore of previous year. 

     

    The treasurer said, “This is because the receipts from IPL media rights income have gone up from Rs 556 crore to Rs 844 crore and the franchisee consideration has gone up marginally from Rs 460 crore to Rs 502 crore.”

     

    The rights income from Champions League has also gone up, as a substantial hike from Rs 278.88 crore to Rs 327.50 crore was registered. 

     

    Receipt from ICC share of distribution remained at Rs 32.26 crore. There is a reasonable increase in interest income from Rs 85 crore last year to Rs 120 crore for the year of consideration. “This is mainly because of better treasury operations in getting better-negotiated interest rates for the short term deposits and efficiency of operations,” said Chaudhry.

     

    In the year under consideration, the expenses on cricketing operations went down marginally from Rs 551.17 crore to Rs 516.83 crore. The provision for gross revenue share payable to the players has gone down from Rs 48.57 crore to Rs 11.02 crore. “This is because of the lesser media rights income. From 2013-14, the Board decided that all the common expenses, which are not allocable to any specific tournament would be apportioned on the basis of revenue generated by IPL, CLT20 and BCCI’s international tours. This will reflect more accurately the income generated from these activities of Board,” said Chaudhry. 

     

    In the year under consideration, the surplus of income over expenditure was Rs 526 crore as against Rs 319 crore in 2012-13, before any appropriation. In the current financial year 2014-15 the budgeted surplus is estimated at Rs 391 crore. 

     

    During the year four finance committee meetings were held. The following decisions were taken during the year: 

     

    · The Board awarded the Team Sponsorship contract for the period from 1 January 2014 till 31 March 2017 to Star India. 

     

    · Star India was awarded the title sponsorship for the limited period from October 2013 to December 2013 in which two series i.e., India versus Australia and India versus West Indies were played. 

     

    · The back office of the honorary treasurer was set up in Chennai from 1 April, 2014 and the coordinating office of honorary treasurer was established in New Delhi. 

     

    · The allowances and fees payable to support staff accompanying the senior team, A team, under 19 team, junior team and women’s team were revised.

     

    · Under the scheme of One Time Benefit to former players, an amount aggregating to Rs 1.55 crore was paid during the year under consideration. 

     

    · Under the infrastructure subsidy scheme, the member units have claimed Rs 764.03 crore till 31 March, 2014, including subsidy for ground equipment. 

     

    · During the year, Board invoked the Bank Guarantee given by Sahara Adventure Sports (Pune Franchisee) to recover the balance franchisee consideration of Rs 133 crore. 

     

    · During the year, as per the order of Supreme Court of India, the three bankers of Nimbus, who had provided the Bank Guarantees of Rs 1600 crore together and who had not honored the invocation of the Bank Guarantees by the Board and had challenged the invocation, paid Rs 400 crore to the Board against an undertaking from the Board that in case the decision goes against BCCI the said amount will be returned along with the applicable fixed deposit interest.

     

    · During the year the team won the ICC Champions Trophy and the Board awarded prize money of Rs 1 crore to every playing member of the team and Rs 30 lakh to every member of support staff. 

     

    · In the last Annual General Meeting, a new Finance Committee was appointed under the chairmanship of Dr. Ganga Raju. The Finance Committee and the Treasurer’s office benefited from the rich experience of Dr. Raju.

  • HTC the official sponsor of Kings XI Punjab

    HTC the official sponsor of Kings XI Punjab

    MUMBAI: With Champions League T20 2014 knocking on the door, Kings XI Punjab has announced HTC mobiles as its official sponsor. HTC, as part of the association, will occupy the right chest position on the Kings XI Punjab playing jersey.

     

    Talking about the partnership, Kings XI Punjab COO Fraser Castellino said, “We are extremely pleased with this association. HTC Mobiles represent youth and vibrancy and these are also the key attributes of Kings XI Punjab. We are hopeful of having a great season in the upcoming Champions League and are ready to take on the battle field.”

     

    The sixth edition of the Champions League is scheduled to start on 13 September 2014 and end on 4 October 2014.

     

    Confirming the development and wishing Kings XI Punjab good luck for the league, HTC India vice president and country head Faisal Siddiqui said, “We are happy to have partnered with Kings XI Punjab, a team known for its positive attitude and enthusiasm. Cricket is a widely followed game in India and youth has great interest in the sport. Therefore, we are hopeful and quite positive that with this association we will be able to further strengthen connect with the existing audience and expand our customer base too.  We would like to wish Kings XI Punjab all the best for the upcoming season and are sure that they will perform exceedingly well.”

     

    With clients like Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders, Creatigies Communications is a media, innovations and sports management agency and has been instrumental in establishing this partnership.

     

    Excited to bring the Kings XI Punjab and HTC together, Creatigies Communications founder & MD Navroze D Dhondy said, “We were right to believe that this would be a great partnership keeping in mind the similar vibes and energies both the brands have. HTC is synonymous with ‘smart-phones’ and KXIP with ‘smart-cricket’, both providing value and entertainment to the users. We are sure that this association will prove to be mutually beneficial and a long term one.”

  • Delhi Daredevils to kick off campaign for Champions League Twenty20 on 9 October

    MUMBAI: With the fourth edition of the champions Twenty20 League not taking place in India, IPL franchises are limited in terms of activities that they can do to build awareness. They need to be smart and tactical.

    A case in point is Delhi Daredevils. The franchise is focusing heavily on social media and is also using radio. Its campaign kicks off on 9 October. Television for them is covered as ESPN Star Sports is aggressively promoting the event across their channels.

    Delhi Daredevils head marketing commercial operations Hemant Dua said, “The theme of the campaign is Kaan Phaad De. Basically scream so loud for your team that you pierce the ears. The theme which has been developed keeping fans in mind has originated from the Delhi lifestyle, wherein the general behavior is to be loud (basically in style, speaking, cars, houses, etc). We are capturing the same thought, wherein Delhi Daredevils fans will be challenging the other team fans by being loud in their support compared to other teams. Radio stations Fever and Radio One 93.5 are being used”..

    The franchise is creating Youtube films which shall be on similar nature asking fans to conserve their energies for the loudest cheer and only do same when their team plays. “We will also be hosting and encouraging fans to come and cheer for Delhi Daredevils at Underdogs a sports bar at their two outlets. There will be special offers for fans there.”

    In terms of activities in South Africa, the franchise will be focusing on merchandise sales, which it shall do through a local vendor at stadiums and thru online portal of theirs. “We will have packaged offers for DD merchandise. We do see a scope and thus are making a humble attempt to see how far we can go for future activities in that market.”

    In terms of sponsorship deals, he says a new deal has been done with Raindrop Rice. The company will have a presence on the back of the helmet. Asked about the ratings of the event which have not been up to the mark so far Dua expects this year to be better as ESS is putting more effort.

    “The four IPL teams are getting good exposure. The ongoing World Cup is being used effectively as a platform. Ajay Devgan has been roped in. While India is our home base, South Africa gives us the opportunity to create a new fan base.”

    Asked whether an overdose of cricket is an issue Dua notes that different forms of cricket are being played. “You have three formats of the game. You also have club versus club in addition to country versus country. IO think that there is enough of an appetite.”