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Tag: Hero Hockey India League

  • Important to make sports TV friendly for viewers, says Viren Rasquinha

    Important to make sports TV friendly for viewers, says Viren Rasquinha

    MUMBAI:  For the upcoming Hero Hockey India League (HIL) the Mumbai franchise has roped in former Hockey India captain Viren Rasquinha as its strategic advisor and mentor.  Rasquinha is also the CEO of Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ).

    OGQ is a non-profit organisation, founded by Indian sporting legends like Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone that helps Indian athletes win Olympic Gold medals. One of the athletes that is part of the organisations portfolio is five time Amateur Boxing World Champion – Mary Kom.

    Speaking about the organisation, Rasquinha informs, “We currently support the training of 58 athletes across six individual Olympic sports like badminton, boxing, shooting, athletics, archery and wrestling.  We are happy with the progress at the London 2012 Olympics as four out of the six Olympic medal winners were supported by OGQ. These are Vijay Kumar, Gagan Narang, Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom. And incidentally post the Olympics the other two winners Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt are also supported by us.”

     Moreover, athletes supported by OGQ have won 16 medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 13 medals at the Incheon Asian Games.

    Rasquinha was speaking at an event where Mary Kom was presented a Rs 5 lakh cheque by Edelweiss that was collected via crowd funding. This was followed by a discussion on how the sports portfolio in India is seeing a growth through ongoing alternate sports leagues. Voicing his opinions on the improved television coverage of sports he comments, “Television coverage is definitely helping the growth of sports. I feel TV is the king today. And it is very important to make it a good package on screen. Star Sports for example has done a fantastic job in producing the Hockey India League, Pro Kabaddi League and the ongoing Indian Super League. I also think it’s important to make sports TV friendly for viewers.”

     On the opportunities presented by the upcoming leagues, he says, “It is a good sign for Indian sports as it is now becoming more mature and professional. It has attracted better TV coverage and sponsorships. Leagues are also presenting   multiple job opportunities.  But the quality of performance of Indian teams in the respective sports will only improve when we rub shoulders with the best talent in the world.”

    Delving into the upcoming season of HIL and Olympics, he says that Olympics remains a big challenge and it is important to keep improving and helping athletes in the best possible way. Rasquinha is also excited about the new role coming his way as the mentor of HIL’s Mumbai franchise and is content with the coaching team and the players selected.

     

  • Pro Kabaddi League set for flag off tomorrow

    Pro Kabaddi League set for flag off tomorrow

    MUMBAI: They are a bunch of five well built and unruly boys. At first glance they will easily pass off as bullies. Lazing around near the school entrance they try to find a target and zero down on a small scrawny lad. Busy hugging a glass bottle filled with the choicest cookies, the lad is soon surrounded by the mini-thugs. Trying hard to sneak away, the poor boy mutters beneath his breath and in single leap jumps through the coterie of boys thanks to one of India's oldest sports – Kabaddi!  A booming voice then announces that life too is just like the desi game where winners are those who choose to go on, not giving up.

    This isn’t a short film but a TVC created ahead of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). The core thought of the campaign is ‘Jeet Te Hain Wahin Jo Haar Nahin Mantey’. Thanks to the initiative of corporate biggie Anand Mahindra, through his company Mashal Sports (he is the co promoter along with commentator and his brother in law Charu Sharma) and broadcaster Star Sports, the historic game is finally getting its due. The PKL has the patronage of the International Kabaddi Federation, Asian Kabaddi Federation and Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India.

     On Star’s association with the league, Star India head of sports business Nitin Kukreja says, “We are very excited with the league coming up. It is a game that is to be seen and experienced. We have a great on and off ground campaign that is taking place to promote the game. We will use the best production values for the game.”

    It had similarly taken up the challenge of promoting the game of Hockey through Hero Hockey India League earlier in 2014.

    The 60 match tournament will be telecast during prime time on Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD, Star Gold and starsports.com with commentary both in English and Hindi.

    Initially 10 second teasers were launched with power packed visuals of the games and the tagline #Guessthegame. More than 15 TVCs including teasers, mini reveals and the thematic campaigns, created by Ogilvy & Mather, are being promoted across all channels of Star Network and starsports.com. The network has also roped in Bollywood star Salman Khan in one of them, a co-promotion for his film Kick.

    The campaign is targeted at the eight franchise cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Patna, Pune, Vizag, Jaipur and Bengaluru. Hoardings have been extensively used to drive the league visibility in all these cities. The PKL has booked spots on FM radio stations such as Radio Mirchi and others for the radio campaign which features  an anthem composed by Dhruv Ghanekar.

    While Kyazoonga is the online ticketing partner for Kolkata, Delhi, Jaipur, Bengaluru and Pune, Bookmyshow is the partner for Mumbai and Patna.

     On the digital front, Star says it will be live-streaming the league on starsports.com. The #JeetegaWahi campaign held on 18 July was trending at number one in India, claims the channel. Since then, there have been contests for online fans, which have also sought to demystify the rules of the game.

    A prominent media planner said that advertisers had yet to be finalised for the first season, at the time of writing. He says advertisers will be playing a wait and watch game to see how the league takes shape. Advertising interest will be propelled post the league, he adds.

     Unilazer Sports CEO Supratik Sen which owns the U-Mumbai team when speaking to indiantelevision.com says, “We have a certain level of expectation from advertisers. We will come up with a strong base price during the second season of the league.”

     Leading corporate companies and individuals have ended up owning the eight franchises. They are: Kosmik Global Media for Bengaluru, Kalpathi Investments for Chennai, Rana Kapoor of Yes Bank for Delhi, Abhishek Bachchan for Jaipur, Kishore Biyani of Future Group for Kolkata, Ronnie Screwvala, Unilazer Sports for Mumbai, Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank for Pune and Core Green Group for Vizag. 

     As reported earlier by indiantelevision.com, each of the franchise will have to shell out anywhere between Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore annually including a nominal franchise fee. During the auction, the pool cap for each of the teams was Rs 60 lakh. Patna Pirates bagged the costliest player for this season in Rakesh Kumar for Rs 12.80 lakh. The prize money for the league meanwhile is Rs 1 crore.

    Mashal Sports will keep 80 per cent of the revenue from the central pool with the eight franchises. Marketing partner World Sport Group will receive 10 per cent, while the remaining 10 per cent will be retained by Mashal Sports for organising the league. It is estimated that Mashal Sports will incur an annual expenditure of Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore.

    With one day to go before the league kicks off in Mumbai, one hopes that Indian audiences who have been chanting Dhoni Dhoni or Sachin Sachin will start muttering Kabaddi, Kabaddi, while watching what we believe promises to be an exciting first season for a sport which most of us have at sometime or the other played.
     

  • Hero Hockey India League crosses 7.75 lac fans on its Facebook page

    Hero Hockey India League crosses 7.75 lac fans on its Facebook page

    MUMBAI: With the digital domain proving to be a success mantra the second edition of Hero Hockey India League continues its success run in reaching out to its fans. The Facebook page of Hero Hockey India League today crosses 7.75 lacs fan base and has seen an addition of more than 2.0 lacs fans, post 25th January 2014 when the League started.

     

    Many interesting facts have come to the forefront this year through the Facebook page and which in a way showcases the fact that Hockey is yet again becoming a household entertainment game. The page has witnessed high engagement this year

     

    – More Women have been added on the page than Men

    – Women this year have engaged on the page more than men in terms of Liking and even commenting on the daily posts

    – Last year the ratio of men vs women was 96:4. This year the ratio is 90:10

    – Every post on the page has a reach of 28 million FB users

    – 78% of the fan-base are in the age group of 13-24

    – 4.85 lac fans have either liked or shared the post through their FB profile

     

    Speaking on the huge fan following on the Facebook Page, Dr. Narinder Batra, Chairman, Hockey India League said “it’s a very happy moment for us because this kind of involvement on the FB page has proved that this game is still alive in people’s hearts. This kind of direct involvement by the Fans reiterates our belief that Hockey has always been the game that the nation looks up to. The fact that women have engaged more is the most satisfactory feeling that everyone at Hockey India is excited about”.

     

    The 2nd edition of Hero Hockey India League kick-started on 25th Janaury 2014 and will culminate with the semi-finals and finals at Ranchi on 22nd and 23rd February 2014. The month long tournament features 6 teams who are fighting to win the title and bring glory to their home state.

     

    For further information please contact Shilpi Bawa / Sumeet Saurabh / Supreet Ahuja / Nishant Shukla / Ashish Shiromani 9711306385 / 9711306639 / 9999202252 / 9811515535 / 9871520056 Adfactors PR

  • Star Sports launches marketing campaign to build Hero Hockey India League

    Star Sports launches marketing campaign to build Hero Hockey India League

    MUMBAI: Star Sports, India’s leading sports broadcaster, has launched a unique marketing campaign to build the second edition of Hero Hockey India League (HHIL) which starts later this month on January 25, 2014. Star Sports has shot the marketing campaign across all six team states which are participating in the league. The campaign shows star players of all the teams showcasing their hockey skills at the most iconic locations of the regions. Leveraging the presence of elite national and international hockey players, the broadcaster has positioned the league as ‘The new face of Hockey’.

     

    The second edition of HHIL will see world’s best hockey players playing in diverse cities across the country. This year 72 Olympians from 11 countries will participate in the league which will be played in 6 cities including New Delhi, Lucknow, Mohali, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai and Ranchi. A total of 34 matches will be played across 29 match days on home and away basis.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Gayatri Yadav, Executive Vice President Marketing & Communications, STAR India, said, “HHIL in just its second edition has emerged as a truly global league and has attracted the world’s best Hockey talent to its fold. We will complement the standard of the league and mount a special production effort to showcase Hockey like it has never been done before. We will create an exciting visual spectacle for Hockey fans. We will present ‘The new face of Hockey’.

     

    This intent emanates from our ambition which is to change the face of sports broadcasting in India and provide world-class sports coverage to fans across the country. It is in-line with Star Sports’ philosophy which urges India to ‘Believe’. Hockey is a priority sport for us and we want to bring the fans closer to their heroes than ever before.

     

    In a bold and unprecedented move, we shot the campaign for HHIL across all the team states using iconic backdrops and elements of each team’s hockey heritage. The visuals show star players of each team presenting the ‘The new face of Hockey’ at the landmark locations in their regions whether it is the by lanes of Varanasi for Uttar Pradesh Wizards team or Jantar Mantar for Delhi Waveriders team. The idea is to build team affinity as well as local pride for each and every participating team.”

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Juju Basu, Head of Communications for Sports business, Star India, said, “The campaign has been created to strengthen the bond between the fans and the teams using their team stars at the locations they are proud of. The films are a cheer for the great hockey action that this league has started bringing to India.”

     

    Overall, the campaign will have 7 different films – 1 for each team and an overall thematic one. The campaign has been shot at the most iconic locations in each of the participating franchise cities/ regions. The campaign for Delhi Waveriders team was shot at the Jantar Mantar while players from the Uttar Pradesh Wizards teams were filmed playing Hockey in the lanes of Varanasi. The Kalinga Lancers campaign was shot at the Puri beach. Star players of Dabur Mumbai Magicians were shot playing Hockey in a Mumbai local train while Ranchi Rhinos ad-campaign was shot with star players playing at the Dassam Falls.  The star players of Jaypee Punjab Warriors team were filmed in Amritsar with the Golden Temple as the back drop.

     

    The high decibel campaign will be played across key channels of Star network.

  • Hero takes title sponsorship of Hockey India League

    Hero takes title sponsorship of Hockey India League

     MUMBAI: The two-wheeler giant Hero MotoCorp signed a multi-year deal with Hockey India to take title sponsorship of its ambitious franchise-based league, Hockey India League (HIL).

     

    With this sponsorship, the tournament will be called Hero Hockey India League and underlines Hero MotoCorp’s support for the game.

     

    Hero MotoCorp was the Title Sponsor of the 2012 Olympics Qualifier Tournament – ‘Hero FIH Road to London 2012’, which was won by the Indian Men’s team, thereby securing a berth in the 2012 Olympic Games. In 2010, Hero was also the Title Sponsor of the men’s, FIH World Cup held in New Delhi.

     

    Announcing this here today, Hockey India secretary and HIL chairman Narinder Batra said, “We are delighted to have Hero MotoCorp as the Title Sponsor of the Hockey India League. Hero Group and particularly its MD & CEO Pawan Munjal have always been great well-wishers of Indian Hockey and they have supported many initiatives of Hockey India in the past few years.”

     

    Hero MotoCorp MD & CEO Pawan Munjal said, “Hockey holds a special place in our hearts and we are pleased to partner with Hockey India League. I am sure that the initiative taken by Hockey India to start this league will go a long way in developing the game and bring back its old glory.”

     

    The inaugural Hero Hockey India League will be held from 14 January to 10 February 2013 involving 120 leading players. The HIL will feature a total of 34 matches.

    ESPN Star Sports is the global broadcast rights partner for HIL till 2017.

     

    The league will involve five teams Delhi Waveriders, Jaypee Punjab Warriors, Uttar Pradesh Wizards, Mumbai Magicians and Ranchi Rhinos will compete in the inaugural season at five venues – Delhi, Jalandhar, Lucknow, Mumbai and Ranchi respectively.