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Tag: ICC Champions Trophy

  • ICC Champions Trophy: Standard Chartered Bank signed as regional official sponsor

    ICC Champions Trophy: Standard Chartered Bank signed as regional official sponsor

    MUMBAI: Global Cricket Corporation (GCC), the commercial partner of the International Cricket Council (ICC), has roped in Standard Chartered Bank as the regional official sponsor of the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 for various territories in Asia including India.

    As regional official sponsor, Standard Chartered Bank will receive on-ground sponsorship benefits like category exclusivity in all the relevant territories, branding and signage, tickets and hospitality, benefits and protections, informs an official release.

    ICC president Percy Sonn says, “We are thrilled that Standard Chartered Bank has joined the ICC’s family of supporters by becoming an Official Sponsor. Cricket’s ability to attract a world-renowned brand such as Standard Chartered to become an Official Sponsor is a demonstration of the game’s global appeal and health.”

    GCC MD Ian Frykberg says, “We are delighted to welcome Standard Chartered Bank to the family of ICC Champions Trophy 2006 sponsors and their support demonstrates their ongoing commitment to sports.”

    Standard Chartered Bank India CEO Neeraj Swaroop adds, “With Partnership and Teamwork being core values of the Standard Chartered brand, and given our track record of sponsoring sports events across the world we believe this is a wonderful opportunity to reach out to our stakeholders cutting across boundaries, age groups and socio economic classes.”

    Says Nimbus Sport CEO Digvijay Singh, “This is Standard Chartered Bank’s second major sponsorship in cricket and Nimbus is pleased to have played a key role in bringing them into cricket sponsorships and into the ICC sponsor family.”

  • Almeida made Sony business head; Rajani takes over at Max

    Almeida made Sony business head; Rajani takes over at Max

    MUMBAI: In a top level executive reshuffle, Max Channel business head Albert Almeida has been handed over the responsibility of the flagship channel Sony Entertainment India business head.

    At Max, Almeida will be replaced by Sneha Rajani, who is presently heading Max Programming & Acquisitions.

    Albert and Sneha will report to Set India COO NP Singh. The new appointments have been made with immediate effect.

    On the new leadership team, Set India CEO Kunal Dasgupta says, “As an organisation our efforts have always been focused on creating a combined powerhouse of channels where each of our channels are led by strong professionals who are able to provide sound and effective leadership. In order to further strengthen this leadership these movements have been made where Albert and Sneha can take their teams to greater heights”.

    Commenting on this new announcement, Set India COO NP Singh said, “Both Albert and Sneha have contributed immensely to the growth of the network and now leading SET and Max respectively will give them an opportunity to further grow these brands. Albert will however continue to oversee ICC Champions Trophy till the end of the tournament.”

    Almeida has been with Set for over three years and has provided leadership as marketing head of Set Channel as well. Rajani has been with the company for over seven years and has been involved in areas such as programming, acquisitions & cricket.

  • MPA face-off: ICC reaches out to Indian players

    MPA face-off: ICC reaches out to Indian players

    MUMBAI: The jousting being played out through the media between the ICC and the Indian cricket board shows no signs of any let-up. In a clear attempt to demarcate what it sees as the BCCI’s commercial interests and that of its players, the ICC today explained that the Members’ Participation Agreement (MPA) for ICC events from 2007-2015 will provide greater flexibility for all the players taking part.

    ICC general manager – Cricket, David Richardson, said, “The new MPA will be more flexible for players than previous agreements regulating participation in ICC events.

    “In drafting the player terms that fall within the MPA we have taken on board the views of players, including views expressed from India, to build a framework of agreements that will provide added benefits to players.”

    Richardson’s comments are pertinent if you consider the kind of statements that Indian cricket board officials have been issuing on the subject. The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India vice-president Lalit Modi was quoted by Agence France Presse news service as saying: “The MPA in its existing form affects BCCI’s commercial interests, gives ICC the right to change agreements unilaterally and affects the players’ interests. The MPA would affect the BCCI and the players’ interests for a period ranging from six to nine months. We are very unhappy with the way the MPA has been drafted.”

    Countering Modi’s line, Richardson says, “Players will be faced with fewer restrictions regarding their own endorsement deals and will have greater control over the use of their own player attributes before, during and after ICC events.

    “The formal and informal discussions that we have had with players and their representatives indicate widespread support for these developments. The new system will have the added benefit of incorporating clearer guidelines and opportunities for all.

    “While the ICC is required to deal directly with the Indian board on player issues, I’ve always enjoyed a good relationship with the Indian captain Rahul Dravid and several of their leading players and, should the BCCI permit, I’d welcome an opportunity to answer any queries they may have.”

    India, which hosts the ICC’s Champions Trophy from Saturday, won the right to hold the 2011 World Cup jointly with neighbours Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

    The ICC has given the BCCI till next Monday (9 October) to notify it of any and all difficulties it has with the MPA. About the deadline, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told AFP. “We have been given a deadline till Monday to inform the ICC of our objections and we will meet that date.”

  • Max announces ‘Sabse Bada Deewana’ contest

    Max announces ‘Sabse Bada Deewana’ contest

    MUMBAI: Ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy in September, the telecast rights holder Max is attempting to create a buzz in the market. Driving the initiative is a search for the ‘Sabse Bada Deewana’ to be launched across the country.

    Through the hunt, Max will choose the biggest “deewana” from across the country through auditions on-ground across six cities- Lucknow, Jaipur, Bhopal, Surat, Kolkata and Mumbai. Participants could either register by sending a sms “Deewana” to 2525 or turn up for an audition at the venue, said an official release.

    Speaking on the onset of Sabse Bada Deewana, Max EVP & business head Albert Almeida says, “This campaign will capture the true passion and fervor of the viewer and showcase what fuels his or her Deewanapan. The idea is to identify these deewanas, capture their deewanapan and present them to other passionate viewers of the channel.”

    According to Almeida, the on ground activity will be supported by an extensive off air and on air marketing campaign.

    Max will take the biggest deewana and movie fanatic of all times – Sajid Khan across these cities and hunt down the Sabse Bada Deewana of the nation. After rolling out auditions in six cities, the campaign moves further as the six deewanas chosen from the city will then be eliminated by viewer votes and the Sabse Bada Deewana would be chosen from amongst them, adds the release.

  • DirecTV inks deal with GCC for ICC Champions Trophy 2006 and World Cup 2007

    DirecTV inks deal with GCC for ICC Champions Trophy 2006 and World Cup 2007

    MUMBAI: Cricket fever will soon grip the US! The direct-broadcast satellite provider DirecTV has reached an agreement with Global Cricket Corporation (GCC) to broadcast two International Cricket Council (ICC) events — the ICC Champions Trophy, to be held in India in October 2006 and the ICC Cricket World Cup, to be played in the West Indies in March 2007.

    Television rights to the two ICC events have been acquired by DirecTV on a non-exclusive basis. DirecTV’s acquisition of international cricket rights has been part of an effort to expand its programming services for the diverse ethnic population within the United States.

    “These are the most prestigious cricket events in the world, and we are proud to offer them to DirecTV customers for the first time ever,” said DirecTV Inc VP International Aaron McNally.

    “With these ICC events and with exclusive rights to six of the ten test-playing ICC members as part of our CricketTicket package, we are cementing our position as the leading distributor of televised cricket content in the United States.”

    News Corp owns approximately 36 per cent in DirecTV. The pricing and packaging for the two events will be announced at a later date, according to an official release.
    “Our agreement with DirecTV is great news for cricket in the United States of America and for the ICC,” said ICC president Ehsan Mani.

    “DirecTV’s coverage means people who might not ordinarily be exposed to cricket will get the chance to watch it. And we hope the opportunity to see the world’s best players in the world’s best tournament, the ICC Cricket World Cup, will lead to a significant increase in the number of people interested in the game in the United States, a country which has tremendous potential for growth in cricketing terms.”

    “We are extremely grateful to DirecTV for their support and look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership with them,” added Mani.

    GCC managing director Ian Frykberg said, “Global Cricket Corporation looks forward to working with DirecTV at the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 later this year and at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 next year.”

    Cricket is extraordinarily popular among populations from South Asia, West Indies and many other parts of the world. Since late 2004, DirecTV has been offering customers access to cricket matches via the DirecTV CricketTicket package, the first-ever, year-long subscription TV package for international cricket.

    All other international programming is being offered through DirecTV’s WorldDirect platform, which features 39 channels that deliver a wide variety of new programming in multiple foreign languages, including Russian, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Korean, Italian and Ukrainian, to underserved ethnic markets throughout the United States.

    DirecTV customers will need to use a WorldDirect services satellite dish that is capable of receiving both international and English-language programming. In some markets, customers who subscribe to a local channels package will require a second smaller dish.

  • BCCI to launch portal in association with TCN

    BCCI to launch portal in association with TCN

    MUMBAI: With a view to building a stronger brand for the bat and ball game The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has signed an agreement with The Cricket Network (TCN) to design, build and operate the BCCI’s cricket web-portal.

    The initial phase of the web-portal is anticipated to soon go live. When fully functional (scheduled to coincide with the ICC Champions Trophy in October, 2006) the web-portal will enable cricket internet users around the world to access various levels of news, highlights, archival footage, statistics, streaming video, merchandising and mobile phone content.

    BCCI VP Lalit Modi says, “Our vision is to embrace the entire Indian community worldwide and over time we will make available the web-portal to all Indian cricket associations with multi-lingual capabilities.
    “The BCCI will promote this portal on all TV channels that broadcast the Indian home games through branding, which will be prominent on BCCI’s live TV feeds around the world. This will help it to become one of the most prominent portals in the world”.

    Through TCN, BCCI’s cricket portal will bring together media, content (Sportsbrand), technology and sporting expertise from around the world to launch what is slated to become the leading global sports network.

    TCN has selected as its preferred technology partner Sun Microsystems to provide IT infrastructure solutions and support for the implementation of the company’s digital asset management system that will power the BCCI’s web-portal. This approach will facilitate multi-distribution by way of cable & satellite, audio, hand-held and future devices of the web-portal’s cricket and lifestyle content.

    TCN director Luke Reinehr says, “We aim to provide cricket content to fans as they want it, when they want it and how they want it. We consider that this sports network has great application to all cricket fans around the world.

    “We are proud to have chosen Sun Microsystems. The Sun people from India, Australia and the US have been superb in understanding the joint vision of the BCCI and TCN and in developing the right solutions. We chose Sun because of their world-class architecture that supports millions of businesses across the globe, and in particular their work with the enormously successful sports site MLB.com”.

    Sun’s global VP for media and entertainment Juan Dewar said, “Sun Microsystems is very pleased to work with TCN to create the BCCI web portal for cricket in India. We are able to leverage our award winning digital asset management reference architecture to provide a flexible infrastructure that provides compelling content to millions of cricket fans everywhere. Our approach and focus on this industry segment has helped us to work with TCN and BCCI to understand their joint vision and develop a scalable, robust infrastructure to support their needs.”