ITV

Tag: Hero Indian Super League

  • First ever ISL player auction to be held on 10 July

    First ever ISL player auction to be held on 10 July

    MUMBAI: Player auction for the second season of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) will be held on 10 July, 2015. Hero ISL franchisees will put their boardroom strategy into practice while bidding for the best Indian talents for season 2015.

     

    Ten of India’s finest footballing talents, which includes Sunil Chhetri will feature in the first Hero Indian Super League ‘Player Auction’.

     

    The player auction list is as follows: Sunil Chhetri, Jackichand Singh, Seityasen Singh, Karanjeet Singh, Thoi Singh, Robin Singh, Rino Anto, Anas Edathodika, Arata Izumi and Eugeneson Lyngdoh.

     

    All ten players in the auction list had missed on the inaugural season of Hero ISL last year owning to their individual contracts with respective I-League clubs. However they showed keen interest to be a part of the unrivalled football league for the 2015 season. The success of the inaugural season of the Hero ISL has brought back world’s interest into Indian football. Hero ISL’s 11-week format featuring eight city-based franchisees, international footballing stars, renowned coaches, Indian talents, competitiveness and celebrity owners has helped reignite Indian football not just within the country but also internationally.

     

    Six of the ten players in the auction list i.e. Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh, Thoi Singh, Arata Izumi, Anas Edathodika and Karanjeet Singh, have signed with Football Sports Development Limited – the promoters of Hero ISL, as free agents. Jackichand Singh and Seityasen Singh have been loaned from I-League club Royal Wahingdoh FC while Rino Anto and Eugeneson Lyngdoh are loaned from Bengaluru FC.

     

    The four times AIFF Player of the Year Chhetri commands the highest base price in the Hero ISL Player Auction at Rs 80 lakh, followed by goalkeeper Karanjeet Singh at Rs 60 lakh. Robin Singh, Arata Izumi and Anas Edathodika have been pegged at Rs 40 lakh base price, while Thoi Singh is just a notch below at Rs 39 lakh. Eugeneson Lyngdoh will be at Rs 27.50 lakh base price and the Royal Wahingdoh loaned duo Jackichand Singh and Seityasen Singh will be at Rs 20 lakh each. Rino Anto commands the lowest base price in the auction list at Rs 17.50 lakh.

     

    Additionally, Football Sports Development Limited also announced an extensive list of 113 Indian players for Hero ISL 2015 Draft. The eight ISL franchisees as of date have 64 Indian players on their roster either retained from last year or signed from the open market. The comprehensive Draft list will help ISL franchisees to fill up a total of 40 positions of the Indian player quota. The Draft will be held on the same day as the Player Auction on 10 July 2015. 

     

  • CPL takes a leap with SRK as franchise owner; Hero as title sponsor

    CPL takes a leap with SRK as franchise owner; Hero as title sponsor

    MUMBAI: With two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp as title sponsor and actor Shah Rukh Khan as the owner of Trinidad and Tobago franchise, the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is emerging as a substantial entity in the franchisee cricket fraternity.

     

    Both developments are of huge magnitude for the mushrooming league as Khan’s involvement will drive his fans to the sports too, which will result in increased viewership.

     

    The broadcasting right of CPL is with Multi Screen Media’s sports and entertainment channel Sony Six, which also telecasts Indian Premier League (IPL). A viewership boost will only help the channel generate more revenue.

     

    Not long back after Hero invested heavily on Indian Super League (ISL) and bagged the title sponsors tag speculations were drawn that the automobile company will permanently move away from cricket and endorse other emerging leagues. However, the one-year deal with CPL quashes all speculations. As part of the deal, CPL will now be called as Hero Caribbean Premier League, which is synonymous with other sports properties like Hero Indian Super league and Hero Hockey India League.

     

    Hero has been associated with cricket for over two decades in various capacities. In 2007, Hero was the Global Partner of the ICC World Cup, held in West Indies.

      

    Speaking to Times of India after signing the deal with CPL franchise Trinidad and Tobago, Khan said, “This is in line with our vision to expand globally. We are thrilled to become part of the cricketing tradition of Trinidad & Tobago. The passion for franchise cricket in the Caribbean is evident with the success of CPL and we hope to bring all the best practices of KKR to the T&T franchise.”

     

    Speaking about the deal, Hero MotoCorp CEO and managing director Pawan Munjal said, “Hero MotoCorp has been associated with sports, and particularly cricket, for well over two decades. The game of cricket has for long remained the most popular sport in India, and also in the Caribbean. As Hero rapidly expands its global footprint, we have been forging strong associations with sporting icons and events as part of our global brand building initiatives. Caribbean cricket and cricketers have always been highly popular in India and in many other parts of the world, and our title sponsorship of the CPL is a logical extension of our long-term association with the game. We look forward to a highly exciting month of cricket in the Caribbean.” 

     

    Hero Caribbean Premier League chairman Richard Bevan added, “It is our pleasure to have the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp, as title sponsor of CPL. Hero has been one of the leading sponsors of cricket throughout the game’s history, and it is a testament to CPL’s growing success that the event will now be known as the Hero CPL. We look forward to Hero’s support and to making season 3 of the CPL the biggest yet.

     

    CPL started two years back and has been growing in terms of both players’ participation and global viewership. Renowned international cricketers like Kevin Pietersen, Jacques Kallis and Shahid Afridi will join the Caribbean’s finest cricketers namely Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo. The tournament will also witness participation of talented local players from the Caribbean region.

     

    CPL 2014 attracted a massive global audience in excess of 65 million. This number is expected to break all previous records to post record participation of spectators from around the world.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com a senior cricket expert asserts, “Caribbean cricketers have always been the best entertainers of cricket. If we see in recent times in the IPL, it has been Gayle. Pollard and Bravo have always been crowd pullers. Indian cricketers not participating will hamper viewership in India but if quality cricket is exhibited, then people will tune in provided there is no India match happening simultaneously.”

     

    He further added, “Shah Rukh Khan owning a franchise is a big boost for the league, as he will make efforts to promote the franchise. KKR was the first franchise to start generating profit from IPL so with his business mind, he will make sure he gets good returns.”

     

    A veteran media planning expert feels that though there are big names associated with the league, it is highly unlikely that the brand interaction will go anywhere close to IPL or any other India involved cricket match. “The game is clear, you have India playing cricket… it’s a festival. You have matches played in India, it is a celebration but cricket without Indian players will find it tough to garner viewership. Hero and Shah Rukh joining the league is good news for the league as well as for the broadcaster. However, at the end of the day, it’s the quality of cricket and cricketers that will get brands and viewers.”

  • Delhi Dynamos FC to hold open football trials

    Delhi Dynamos FC to hold open football trials

    MUMBAI: This April will see a football revolution sweep Delhi. Young and budding football players in the city born between 2002 – 2004 will get an opportunity to showcase their talent. The children will also get a chance to be a part of a skill enrichment workshop and larger opportunities. They will train alongside some of the best fresh talent across the country.

     

    Continuing its efforts in grassroots and youth football development, the Delhi Dynamos Football Club (DDFC), the national capital’s football team in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL), launched the second leg of its grassroots programme in Delhi-NCR.

     

    DDFC aims to create sustainable opportunities for children (born in 2002, 2003 or 2004) in the region through open trials, starting 11 April, 2015.

     

    In 2014, the inaugural year of the Hero Indian Super League and the Delhi Dynamos FC, the Dynamos had initiated a grassroots football development programme in Delhi, ‘Junior Dynamos’, which became one of the largest ever Inter-School Football Tournament with a participation of over 2400 players from over 180 schools.

     

    The Dynamos are now stepping up their game by holding Delhi’s first ever open football trials to identify and nurture real footballing talent at a young age. DDFC hopes to refine these children’s game skills, enhance their technical knowledge and ultimately mould them into professional football players.

     

    The first of these open football trials will be held in Delhi on 11 April at the Ambedkar Stadium, and is open to all participants from the Delhi NCR area aged between 11 to 13 years. The participants will be given a chance to showcase their talents under the guidance of the Delhi Dynamos FC technical team. Talented children will be shortlisted to participate in the Reliance Foundation Young Champs selection camp. Delhi Dynamos FC is looking at finding the next ‘Face of Indian Football’ from Delhi.

  • Rs 20 crore salary cap set for Indian Super League season 2

    Rs 20 crore salary cap set for Indian Super League season 2

    MUMBAI: The first season of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) was indeed a success for the sport in India as it achieved a rare status of being the fourth-most watched football leagues in the world. 

     

    Now in its second edition, the controlling body of the ISL, the Football Sports Development Ltd (FSDL), formed through a joint venture between IMG-Reliance and Star India, has decided that the ISL clubs will have player’s salary cap of Rs 20 crore for the second season to be held this year. 

     

    The board has also decided that the ISL will have an auction for Indian players who have played in the senior national teams but missed out on the inaugural ISL season.

     

    Each club will be eligible to add only one such player from the auction list consisting of maximum 12 to 15 players. Those not picked through auction will form part of the Domestic Players Draft. 

     

    Commenting on the development, an Indian Super League spokesperson said that the new set of rules are defined to encourage clubs in player retention, assist them in managing player costs and provide a level playing field for each club to prepare for the second season with a reasonable and broadly equitable chance of winning the league in 2015. 

     

    “The inaugural year of the ISL brought to fore many new faces of Indian football other than the known international names. The league encourages the Clubs to retain such players to help them build an identity and fan base,” added the spokesperson.

     

    In terms of player retention, a number of decisions have been taken at the first Governing Council to review the inaugural season. The Governing Council committee consists of all eight ISL participatory club representatives and officials from FSDL. 

     

    For marquee players it has been decided that each club must have a minimum of one marquee player. Clubs can retain their marquee player from the inaugural season but are free to sign one from the open market, with prior approval from the League. For international players, clubs can retain a minimum of one and maximum of five international players. Additionally, clubs are allowed to contract international players by themselves through the market directly. 

     

    It has also been decided that a minimum of one and maximum of six domestic players can be retained by a club. Players, who are not part of the retention list of clubs, can be signed by any ISL club in the open market until April 2015. In case they are still without contract, such players will be listed in the Domestic Draft. 

     

    Each club is to have a minimum of 22 players, with a mandatory two developmental players in the squad. Each team would consist of one marquee, eight international and 13 domestic players including the compulsory two under-23 developmental players. A club can have a maximum squad size of 25. Additional quota of three players can have maximum two international players it has been decided.

  • Goalsquad.com aims to score big; targets Indian fans with sports merchandise

    Goalsquad.com aims to score big; targets Indian fans with sports merchandise

    MUMBAI:  Last year saw the popularity of Indian football reaching new heights thanks to the advent of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL). While there has always been a moderate fan following for the game in India, it is largely towards the European Clubs.  

    Trying to cater to this segment for various official and authentic club merchandises is a new entrant in the e-commerce shopping space- goalquad.com.

    The venture was started by two Mumbai based brothers, Aashay and Rushang Shah out of their own financial capacity. The Shah brothers have been a part of their family business in real estate and hospitality for the past ten years. Their main aim was to offer Indian fans with official merchandise on a single hassle free platform. 

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Aashay Shah says that the idea for this concept began in mid 2013 and by the time the duo got in touch with all the clubs and license manufactures, it took about seven months for the supply chain to commence.

    “It also took us time to convince the clubs that we were serious about our business and would want to buy in bulk the various category of products,” says Shah.

    The first of its kind website in the country was born in January 2014.

    Initially the clubs were hesitant and discussed with the Shahs their business initiatives and investment plans including their other business segments. The particular business strategy to be followed was to purchase quantities in bulk orders so that the cost benefit was passed on to consumers. 

    “Football websites like Manchester United do sell products online but when a single product is bought and the duty and shipping costs are added, the price increases five to six times the cost of the product,” explains Shah.

    The idea was born when the brothers sighted a gap to sell official football merchandise in the e-commerce category, which was picking up and decided to venture in the territory where products sell better than in physical stores. 

    The venture has seen an investment close to Rs 1 crore and much of the sale money gained is invested back into marketing and buying of the inventory. Shah says that over the next three years there would be a total investment of Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 crore. He also hopes to break even towards the end of 2016 or by 2017.

    While counterfeit products largely remain a worry, Shah is undeterred as he pins hope at cracking at least 20 per cent of the entire market gamut. Mentioning a Star Sports report released three years back he says that there was around 80-90 million football viewership in the country. Shah intends to target 20 per cent of this market, which would be a substantial number of 15 – 20 million. He feels this number has increased now because of a growing population as well as popularity of the game soaring in India. 

    The website has merchandise from Clubs such as Chelsea F.C, Manchester United F.C , Arsenal F.C, Liverpool F.C among others. The venture also recently introduced its NBA line of merchandise and has also got Mumbai City F.C of the ISL on board. 

    The various products include glassware, football, stationary, key chains, badges, flags and clothing among others. The price range begins from below Rs 500 and stretches upwards of Rs 2,500 depending on the products. The brothers are now in touch with the various ISL teams to get their merchandise on board, whose cult following is yet to begin.

    For Shah, the ISL, its grassroots programme and the few star players have been positive triggers for the growth of the game in the country. While the website is targeted at the age group between 14 and 45, it has also noticed traction from female buyers who largely purchase products for their male counterparts. “I see a lot of school going girls buying Barcelona merchandises because of their star quality players. Messi and Neymar products are huge sellers for them,” says Shah.

    A key challenge for the firm remains the heavy custom duties, which are the standard 30 per cent, besides the Octroi tax in Maharashtra.

    For now, close to 10,000 to 15,000 unique visitors log onto the website in a month. As part of its marketing campaign, it has tied up to sponsor various community based events such as that of a youth league it recently sponsored in New Delhi.

    On social media, the website is trying to build virtual communities where football news and videos are shared on its pages. On twitter it runs a football fantasy league, which is linked to the official Barclays Premier League. As part of the contest a prize is handed every month to the manager of the month which has around 250 players. Shah looks at spending between Rs 15- Rs 20 lakh on the marketing for this year alone.

    The total team strength is around 10 including a social media marketer, a purchase and account manager, a customer care executive besides three people in despatch.

    As part of the expansion plans, the website will soon launch their own app, which will allow customers to easily browse through products besides providing football news, highlights and score update. It also plans to expand to cricket and tennis products and in the near future, thus becoming a full-fledged fan merchandise store selling only authentic and official merchandise.

  • Liverpool FC’s – DSK Shivajians – gets shot in the arm with investment of Rs 50 crore

    Liverpool FC’s – DSK Shivajians – gets shot in the arm with investment of Rs 50 crore

    MUMBAI: With football fever reaching a crescendo with the recently concluded Hero Indian Super League (ISL), the country seems to have fallen in love with the game once again. It definitely has more to do with the rugged game itself rather than its celebrity owners. While foreign clubs have a fair fan share in India right from Man U to Real Madrid and AC Milan, many of them have spotted opportunities and carried out various initiatives in India to further build on this huge supporter base for the game. A case in point is Manchester United and Chelsea, with both conducting clinics in India.

     Not only this, Arsenal too has had multiple training centres in New Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Liverpool, on the other hand, has a tie-up with DSK Shivajians, and has formed India’s first internationally-branded residential football academy, called the Liverpool International Football Academy- DSK Shivajians. “With a total investment of over Rs 50 crore, we are confident that India will experience the international flavour of football,” says LFC International Football Academy, DSK-Shivajians CEO Ardeshir Jeejeebhoy.

    The Academy located at Pune, promises to provide aspiring young talent with the right platform to get trained under expert supervision and world-class infrastructure. It has a state-of-the-art 4G pitch, along with a natural turf, self-contained accommodation, gym and swimming pool and a cafeteria serving varied dietary requirements. The Academy thus far has enrolled 64 players from all across India in the Under 17 and Under 19 age groups. They will also be provided group tutorials for core subjects, which aggregate over 660 hours of classes over the year. When asked about the long-term objective of the Academy, Jeejeebhoy informs, “The aim is to give a platform to aspiring talented footballers to train and get direct supervision from two full-time talented coaches from Liverpool FC. We look at it as an opportunity for taking Indian football to international standards.”

    About the players and franchise owners, he opines that the League is an excellent platform for Indian talent to get noticed on the international arena and a great opportunity for stakeholders in football across the country to engage with the youth.

    “Sponsors get more visibility for their brand due to the sheer magnitude and uniqueness of the event and with the use of modern methods of advertising and marketing in the digital space. The new format does not have a clutter of brands, which ensures the brands that have partnered with the ISL get valuable presence and recall,” he says.

    “One of the many ways that the League could be looked at to bring in-stadia spectators closer to the game, would be to invest in refurbishing existing infrastructure and building stadia, where its sheer design and layout allows spectators to be closer to the pitch. This will establish a better connect with the game,” the executive goes on.

    Moving on to  Star India, a promoter of the League,  Jeejeebhoy feels the commitment from the Network with prime time spots and live HD telecast, added to the quality of the product. “Over the past couple of years, audiences have shown a growing interest and acceptance in sports as varied as football, motorsports, kabbadi and tennis among others. Boxing also has true potential going forward,” says Jeejeebhoy.

    The growing TV viewership for FIFA World Cup and football leagues such as UEFA Europa League from Europe, have shown the increasing popularity of football as a viewership sport in India. The game has always been followed at a regional level and one would hope with the ISL, that the game is accepted across the country.

    Concluding on a high note, he is of the opinion that, “with the advent of the ISL and the country hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017, it has created a lot of positive buzz around football.”

    “It’s the very first time that something of this magnitude has been attempted for football in the country, and has generated interest not only from football followers, but also neutrals, who have flocked in large numbers to the stadia. Fans, who erstwhile did not have such an opportunity to watch live matches, have turned up in huge swarms,” he concludes.

     

  • Hero ISL reports viewership of 429 million across the nation

    Hero ISL reports viewership of 429 million across the nation

    MUMBAI: Hero Indian Super League (ISL), a joint venture by IMG-Reliance and Star India has created history in India with a record- breaking reach on television, in stadia and digital.  

    As per the TAM data, an aggregate of 429 million viewers from across the nation tuned in to watch the inaugural season of Hero ISL live on their televisions screens, making it the second most-watched sport in the country after cricket. Over 1.5 million fans watched it on ground, in-stadia, making it the fourth most attended football league in the world. Stadia were packed close to full capacity with attendance averaging about 26,000 fans per match. 

    The league cut across demographic boundaries and captured the imagination of a diverse fanbase, with women and children accounting for 57 per cent of the 429 million viewers.

    The Hero ISL was telecast live on eight channels in five different languages cross the Star India network. The league was also aired on starsports.com which had more than 32 million visits recorded during the tournament, surpassing the online audience even for the FIFA World Cup 2014. Across web, mobile and app, starsports.com recorded over 17 million online video views through the course of the tournament. The final match played between Kerala Blasters FC & Atletico de Kolkata recorded 1.6 million online visits. 

    Talking about the league’s success, Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “Launched with the aim of helping football take root among the country’s masses, the Hero ISL was backed by an aggressive broadcast plan to bring an unparalleled football experience to the viewers. Our intent was to awaken the passion of football and create the birth of a footballing nation. The resultant success of the Hero ISL justifies it as the right platform for tapping the passion for the sport that exists in India. As we gear for a bigger and better second edition, I would like to thank our partners IMG- Reliance, AIFF, all the club owners and more than 400 million fans for making this dream a reality.”

    On 20 December 2014, the Hero ISL finale, held at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, had about 37,000 fans in attendance. The crowning of the first Hero ISL league champion was also watched by 57 million viewers, 2.4x of the reach of 2014 FIFA World Cup final, culminating the over two months long league. The final, with an average TVT of 1418 among M 15+ ABC, registered as the highest rated match of the tournament, 11 per cent higher than the opening match of the tournament. In the social media front, Hero ISL created a total of 2.2 million conversations with more than 275,000 unique authors, generating 11 billion potential impressions. #ISLfinal trended at #2 worldwide on Twitter, and Atletico de Kolkata at #1 in India on Facebook on the day of the finale.

     

    According to IMG-Reliance Chairperson Nita M Ambani, the success of Hero ISL is a realisation of the dream of a billion including Indians to experience and embrace the beauty of football. She said, “The beautiful game has successfully captured the imagination of people of India and we have experienced the joy of watching the birth of a footballing nation. Hero ISL has been geared towards one overarching objective— to develop football across the country in a systematic and holistic manner, and its success will spur the development of Indian football. I extend my gratitude to the people of India for their love and support.”

     

  • The twin tragedies of Indian football that went unnoticed

    The twin tragedies of Indian football that went unnoticed

    During the 13th episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati season seven, contestant Sumeet Kumar Sinha was asked: ‘Which team won the first Durand Cup football tournament in 1940 and most recently in 2013?’ The contestant answered Mohammedan Sporting and went home rich with a purse of three lakh twenty thousand rupees.

     

    But sadly, the club has now decided to shut operations after going bankrupt, unable to pay salaries to their players for the last three months. What makes the tale even grim is the fact that this historic club founded in 1891 is even older than the parent body of global football FIFA, founded in 1904!

     

    The decision answers the urgent need to come up with a strong sustainable business model that football clubs in India have been struggling to implement for long. Domestic clubs have been unable to garner lucrative sponsorship deals and have managed to sustain so far through the monies of businessmen who own the clubs, generous contribution from football aficionados, club membership payments and tournament prize money which are paltry when it comes to running a club that includes composition of foreign players. Experts will mention how internal workings and squabbles within these domestic clubs make it a bigger problem. Mohammedan Sporting won its last trophy this year during the IFA Shield but was axed from the I-League for failing to fulfill AIFF’s club licensing criteria.

     

    A leading daily said that in the last season, the club spent approximately Rs 10 crore on the senior football team and was walking a tight rope.  The club will now focus on developing youth teams and upgrading infrastructure. Clubs like these need to realise that a sense of professionalism needs to be infused before we see other such clubs shutting shop.

     

    While the country is footballing with the Hero Indian Super League which is promising to improve the football scene in India via better facilities, there was another tragic incident that has shocked football fans. The death of 23 year old Indian football, Peter Biaksangzuala, has garnered global media attention. Celebration was followed by devastation as he attempted to celebrate a goal with a somersault that damaged his spinal cord. He was taken to the hospital, where he underwent a surgery but did not survive. Biaksangzuala had scored an equaliser for Bethlehem Vengthlang football club against Chanmari West football club. The club is based in the north east of India.

     

    While these two tragedies have left a deep void, let us hope that the ongoing Hero ISL helps propel deeper interest for the game and may Biaksangzuala’s soul rest in peace.

  • Hero ISL sizzles as 170 million witness the league during opening week

    Hero ISL sizzles as 170 million witness the league during opening week

    MUMBAI: The first edition of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) which has promised to open a new footballing movement in the country has achieved a new milestone for the sport during the opening week of the league.

     

    75 million people witnessed the birth of the new football league on day one and 170 million in week one. According to Star, this is 12 times the FIFA World Cup 2014 opening day and double of opening week reach for FIFA World Cup 2014 in India. The weekly reach is over 20-30X of the other football leagues viewership in India said the channel which is also the promoter along with AIFF and IMG-Reliance.

     

    These are aggregated reach numbers across eight channels that the network had telecast the league. These are (Star Sports 2 (English), Star Sports 3 (Hindi), Star Sports HD 2 (English), Star Gold (Hindi), Star Utsav (Hindi), Asianet Movies (Malayalam), Jalsha Movies (Bengali) and Suvarna Plus (Kannada). (Tam Panel CS4+; Extrapolated to all TV viewing universe).

     

    The viewership numbers also performed well not just on television but also the web portal www.starsports.com.The website recorded 8,00,000 visits each for the first two days of the tournament which is 80 per cent of the average IPL viewership on www.starsports.com. No other non-cricketing event has seen such digital traction in India, Star said. The number of visitors to the site continued to grow as the league gained momentum and recorded five million visits over the opening week.

     

    On digital media, Hero ISL saw 2.5 billion potential impressions so far. Within 24 hours of the grand kick off, the league dominated twitter trends in India with a perfect score of 10 out 10 topics on web and 15 out of 17 topics on mobile as the country reveled in the birth of a footballing nation. On Facebook, the league trended at number one in India with the hashtag #IndianSuperLeague.

     

    Football Sports Development founding chairperson Nita Ambani said, “Right from the outset, Hero ISL has been geared towards one overarching objective— to develop football across the country in a systematic and holistic manner. The enthusiasm with which the Hero Indian Super league has been greeted, gives us the perfect platform from which to drive grassroots development of football in India.”

     

    Star India CEO Uday Shankar added, “The early success of the Hero ISL has been phenomenal as millions of fans have thronged to watch the action – on television, on digital and in-stadia. This is a historic moment in the era of sports in India as fans embrace the global game and see a quality of football never witnessed before being played in India. This is the first step in a long journey of making India a footballing nation and providing the platform for future champions to emerge. The endeavour has been to create a world class tournament to global production standards with the ubiquitous reach and platform of the Star network.” He further thanked fans for their belief and said they would redouble their efforts to make it a spectacular tournament.

     

    The Hero Indian Super League is being beamed across a global audience, expanding the reach of the most exciting new football league across five continents and in 23 languages. In India, the Hero ISL is being telecast live on eight channels across five languages on Star Sports 2 (English), Star Sports 3 (Hindi), Star Sports HD 2 (English), Star Gold (Hindi), Star Utsav (Hindi), Asianet Movies (Malayalam), Jalsha Movies (Bengali) and Suvarna Plus (Kannada). It is also available live on www.starsports.com.

  • IMG-Reliance and BFI launch two new basketball leagues

    IMG-Reliance and BFI launch two new basketball leagues

    MUMBAI: While the country is currently gripped with football fever thanks to the ongoing Hero Indian Super League (ISL), another sport is being promoted at the grassroots level-basketball. IMG-Reliance, the promoters of ISL, has now launched two basketball leagues along with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI). The two properties are: Indian School Basketball League (ISBL) and Indian College Basketball League (ICBL).

    The two partners are hoping to inculcate the basic knowledge of the game at the grassroots level, thereby cultivating the talent into national standards. IMG Reliance has signed a 30 year partnership with the BFI which it says is to help develop basketball in the country.

     

    The two leagues began in Delhi and Indore and after a series of matches in cities like Dehradun, Raipur and Hyderabad, the basketball league kickstarted on 17 October in Mumbai, where the matches are being played at Khalsa College.

     

    Speaking on the progress of the league BFI chief executive officer Roopam Harish Sharma commented, “Mumbai is a very active city, full of life and energy. We are looking forward to an exciting display of matches as ICBL and ISBL. The response received so far has been positive from the end of all teachers, students and parents. I am very confident that a revolution will soon be created in the history of basketball in India.”

     

    IMG Reliance COO Ashu Jindal said that India is witnessing a revolution in the world of sports and the second most popular sport in the world, basketball, deserves its share of push. “These two leagues are being played across 22 cities, designed to provide the youth a platform on pan-India basis,” he added.

     

    The ICBL comprises over 450 colleges and over 6000 participants. The city champions from ICBL’s Premier League will participate in a National Championship to be held in December 2014 in New Delhi. In the boy’s category Jhunjhunwala College took on Podar College while VJTI College fought it out with Vaze College in the girl’s category.