ITV

Tag: ICC

  • Star Sports’ new World Cup TVC takes pot shots at Pakistan’s consistent loss to India

    Star Sports’ new World Cup TVC takes pot shots at Pakistan’s consistent loss to India

    MUMBAI: While the world is gearing up for the soon to begin ICC Cricket World Cup, fans in India and Pakistan are an excited lot too as India clashes with its arch rivals on 15 February during their opening match. To add to the excitement, official broadcast network – Star Sports – has launched a TVC as part of its overall campaign titled #WontGiveItBack.

     

    The 60 second TVC shows a young Pakistan cricket fan sporting the team colours waiting to celebrate the victory over India in the World Cup since 1992. The wait has been so long that he now has a son, who also repeats his father’s routine to no avail as India eventually defeats them. The comic element of the film revolves around the fans’ routine of getting the crackers out for celebration in every edition of the World Cup when India plays Pakistan, in anticipation of their win but only to shelf them back again in disappointment.

     

    The communication brief for the TVC stated that India versus Pakistan in the World Cup is the biggest game on the cricket calendar. It also happens to be the first game for both the teams as they kick off their respective WC campaigns. Secondly, the brief was to ignite a sense of pride and passion amongst Indian cricket fans.

     

    The statistical insight was based on the fact that India holds the bragging rights to this game. India and Pakistan have played each other in the World Cup five times and India has come out victorious each time.  

     

    The TVC is produced by Bubblewrap Films, directed by Suresh Triveni and produced by Ketaki Guhagarkar. The Star Sports team comprised Rohit Khanna, Venkataraman Mandalam, Juju Basu, Mustafa Rangwala, Vikas Dubey, Prathamesh Sapte, Atulya Parashar, Ajeet Mestry and Dayanand Bhoite.

     

    The TVC so far has garnered 2,50,050+ views on YouTube. The highly anticipated match will be telecast live on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD 1, Star Sports HD 3 and starsports.com. The coverage of the match will begin from 7:30 am.

     

     

    Click here to watch the TVC

  • “Working with channel partners globally to make this a widely covered WC”: Uday Shankar

    “Working with channel partners globally to make this a widely covered WC”: Uday Shankar

    MUMBAI: This year’s mammoth ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will soon begin and host broadcaster Star Sports is gearing up its production to make sure that people who have access to the live pictures from more than 200 territories around the world, enjoy a spectacular experience on their viewing platforms.

     

    Star India CEO Uday Shankar speaking on the networks broadcast plan said, “Star won’t rest on its laurels and would ensure that fans feel closer to the game and their heroes, like never before. We will be working closely with 45 of our channel partners across the globe, making this one of the most widely covered ICC Cricket World Cup.”

     

    Shankar further commented that four production teams with seven state-of-the-art technology kits will cover the action from each of the 49 games across the 14 stadia in Australia and New Zealand in 44 days, to create an exciting visual spectacle for fans all around the world.

    “Whatever the outcome in cricket’s greatest face-off in Australia and New Zealand, this edition of the Cup promises to be bigger and better,” he added.

     

    Star India will broadcast the World Cup in seven languages, brought together by Star’s expansive world feed, Hindi and regional commentary panel consisting of 13 former skippers, 20 World Cup winners and 26 World Cup semi-finalists. The production of the World Cup will be in the high definition (HD) format and audiences will enjoy the riveting experience as each and every match will be covered by at least 29 cameras, including Ultramotion cameras, Spidercam at 13 matches and the drone camera at all the knock out matches. Technology in use includes Real Time Snicko and LED stumps. Other innovative features will be introduced for the latter stages of the event.

     

    For the first time ever cricket will be covered using 4K technology. To bring its viewers closer to the game, Star Sports will produce live coverage of seven matches in 4K, including the semi-finals and the final.

     

    Meanwhile ICC chief executive David Richardson said: “We expect the World Cup to be the most viewed cricket event in the history of the game. With a great line up of commentators and innovative features, it promises to be an event to remember and the biggest and greatest sporting event anywhere in the world this year.”

     

    Richardson also said that for those who can’t be there in person, Star Sports and its broadcast licensees’ coverage will ensure that 2.5 billion people can view every single game from across all 14 venues in Australia and New Zealand.

     

    In addition to the live coverage of the 49 tournament matches, Star Sports will also produce live broadcast coverage for the warm-up matches from Adelaide and Sydney.

     

    The live broadcast will feature more than 30 commentators. These include Wasim Akram, Russell Arnold, Michael Atherton, Ian Bishop, Allan Border, Ian Botham, Simon Doull, Rahul Dravid, Damien Fleming, Sourav Ganguly, Sunil Gavaskar, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Dean Jones, Nasser Hussain, Brendon Julian, Nick Knight, Brett Lee, David Lloyd, Sanjay Manjrekar, Damien Martyn, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Tom Moody, Shaun Pollock, Rameez Raja, Mark Richardson, Michael Slater, Ian Smith, Scott Styris, Mark Taylor, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh alongside Harsha Bhogle, Mark Nicholas and Alan Wilkins.

     

    To complement the television coverage, live online and mobile streaming will be visible on digital channels of most official broadcasters, while starsports.com will also stream the matches live in territories where television broadcast is unavailable.

     

    In Australia, national broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation will be broadcasting all matches live while CrocMedia will provide live coverage of all Australia matches, the semifinals and the final. In the other host country New Zealand, Sport Radio will provide radio coverage. Outside of the host countries, the event will have ball by ball commentary from the BBC (UK), All India Radio (India), SLCB (Sri Lanka), SABC (South Africa), 107 FM (Pakistan) and Channel 2 (Middle East and the USA).

     

    ICC has also tied up with news access agencies SNTV, Perform and Thomson Reuters to provide news broadcasters around the world with 90-second match highlights, subject to these highlights being used in bonafide news programmes within 24 hours of end of the relevant match, for editorial purposes only.

  • E-commerce to be huge spender this World Cup: Experts

    E-commerce to be huge spender this World Cup: Experts

    MUMBAI: As the 10 day countdown to the ICC Cricket World Cup – this year’s biggest sporting marvel – brands are as excited as cricket fans. The ad revenue for this year’s edition of the World Cup is expected to swell up.

     

    The International Cricket Council (ICC) already has on board a set of sponsors namely Castrol, Reliance, LG, Hyundai and MRF amongst others. Castrol came on board in 2011, while MRF is an added sponsor for this year. The deals with the other brands were signed for a period of five years and will come to an end and up for renewal post this edition of the tournament.

     

    Speaking about the brand interest of the World Cup this year, GroupM ESP national director – entertainment, sports and live events Vinit Karnik says, “Apart from the usual suspects and the ICC sponsors, I definitely see the e-commerce segment participating well for this year’s World Cup. In addition to that, automobiles and FMCG will be seen spending well too.”

     

    Some sports experts opine that each of these brands that came on board for the ICC for five years, could be spending close to Rs 25 – 35 crore per year including this season. MRF, which has been signed on board only for this year, could be spending close to Rs 30 – 35 crore for this edition, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand.

     

    With Star Sports signing a slew of deals with brands like Yepme.com, PayTM, Raymonds, Nestle, Pidilite, Marico and Lloyd, media experts are pegging the ad revenue from TV alone to be close to Rs 900 – 1000 crore. A rise in the revenue for this year can be attributed to broadcaster, Star India’s move to broadcast the tournament in six languages and offer special pricing for local and regional brands.

     

    “Star has increased its reach and relevance of the sport by providing local and regional language feeds. Besides just the reach, it will also help garner more viewership numbers and therefore is a brilliant move,” says Karnik.

     

    According to GroupM’s bi-annual report titled ‘This Year Next Year,’ e-commerce is expected to be a huge spender for this year from a relatively smaller base than more established categories. The reason stated for the spending is due to an increased competition in this sector and no dearth of funding. 

     

    Speaking on similar lines is Madison Media COO Karthik Lakshminarayan who is also of the opinion that e-commerce will be a huge spender this World Cup. “Apart from that, the other categories include durables and brands that want to reach out to men will be spending for this year,” he concludes.

     

    With the excitement almost palpable in this cricket crazy nation and no dearth of spending moolah, the World Cup seems all set to lure viewers and advertisers alike.

  • ICC Cricket World Cup: Experts give thumbs up to Star’s geo targeting strategy

    ICC Cricket World Cup: Experts give thumbs up to Star’s geo targeting strategy

    MUMBAI: Beginning 14 February, the ICC Cricket World Cup is going to be this year’s biggest sporting spectacle to be jointly held in Australia and New Zealand. As national brands scurry to invest and make their presence felt, official broadcast network Star India has extended the opportunity for brands with a regional presence too. Star has created multiple sponsorship and spot buying options tailor-made for different feeds allowing advertisers for the first time ever to buy different cuts and air creatives in different languages to target their audiences sharply. The network is evidently looking at geo targeting.

     

    The World Cup this year will be telecast on 12 channels and in six different languages. While eight sports channels from the network’s stable will broadcast the event, the others are Star Vijay (Tamil), Jalsha Movies (Bengali), Asianet Movies (Malayalam) and Suvarna Plus. 

     

    A Star official said that the network is looking at exploring two options. Firstly, brands with higher budgets can pick for national advertising, which will have different ad spot rates. Secondly, if a brand wants to communicate to only a select audience in markets like Chennai, West Bengal or Tamil Nadu, it can advertise on these regional channels of the network. The network is currently in talks with more than 100 brands especially those from the e-commerce segments, in different markets including tier II and tier III markets.

     

    Geo targeting advertising firm Amagi co-founder Srinivasan K.A says that sports feed in limited languages was one of the biggest problems for brands who were keen on investing in cricket. “They were unable to invest due to lack of structure in geo targeting and languages. If a particular brand had to run a Hindi ad campaign, most of South India would not comprehend it completely,” he says.

     

    While ad rates on the national channels are being sold for close to Rs 4.5 – 5 lakh for a 10 second slot, the regional channels will command a price tag close to Rs 1 lakh or less for a 10 second spot. Brands like Nestle, Marico, Yepme.com, Paytm, Raymonds, Pidilite and Lloyd have already come on board.

     

    Srinivasan finds the strategy as a wonderful opportunity for local brands. “This allows specific brands with limited budgets to come up with specific campaigns in particular markets and advertise for this massive property. At the same time they can seek to tap the audience that they want,” he adds.

     

    How well could this strategy work? “This was previously tried and tested by Sony Six during last year’s FIFA World Cup and was a massive success on Sony Aath, which provided Bengali feed for the matches. Viewership too shot up,” he informs.

     

    Celebrity and sports management firm, CAA KWAN COO, Indranil Das Blah finds the move welcoming too for brands that do not have a huge pocket and want to look at advertising in specific markets. “While the price of advertising on Star Sports Tamil feed for example could probably be one tenth of what the national feed would be, the strategy makes sense for both Star and the local brands because it gives you less spill over,” he says. 

     

    But will brands look at team India’s current performance in the tri series before investing? “Yes there is a bit of a worry about India’s performance. However with the format of the World Cup, unless there is a huge unmitigated disaster, the top eight nations will make it to the next phase. Besides, the World Cup gives you highs that no other cricket tournament does. So that gives some surety to advertisers to go ahead and invest in the World Cup,” concludes Blah.

  • DTH players gear up ahead of the World Cup

    DTH players gear up ahead of the World Cup

    MUMBAI: The upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup is this year’s biggest sporting event that promises to not just entertain fans of the sport but also provide windfall gain to advertisers and sponsors. Not be left out are direct to home (DTH) players, who are planning to rake in some moolah through various initiatives. 

     

    DTH operator Tata Sky recently launched India’s first 4K set top box (STB) for its existing customers as well as to entice a new bunch of subscribers.

     

    When asked if the move will help increase its subscriber base, Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal says, “Those who have invested in 4K television will need a 4K set top box to watch the matches. So it will help the customers who already have 4K TV, to watch the 4K transmission with the help of the STB.”

     

    For Rs 6,400 subscribers can purchase the Tata Sky 4K STB while existing subscribers can buy it for Rs 5,900. Apart from relaying 4K content, the box can also showcase Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) channels. The STB has the capability of delivering Ultra High Definition picture quality and Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound. 4K at 8.3 megapixels (3840×2160) has approximately four times the pixels as that of 2K (1920×1080) – the current HD standard.

     

    Sun Direct managing director Mahesh Kumar too agrees that the World Cup will help increase its existing subscriber base. He reasons, “One, cricket is a religion in India and given that the first few days of the tournament starts off with an India Pakistan match – the fervour is going to be high from the start of the tournament. Two, even though the months of February and March are traditionally dull for DTH due to exam fever, we expect the cricket fever to take prominence and more new connections to come in during this period.  Post IPL the love of cricket has transcended countries with the foreign player participation in local leagues, hence viewer interest will be high not only in India playing matches but also in matches with other countries.”

     

    The DTH operator is offering the Star Sports bouquet on its bestselling Cinema + Sports packs. “This is indeed a big plus for our subscribers who can watch the world cup and best of sports during the World Cup and beyond with Sun Direct,” added Kumar.

     

    Sun Direct is offering its Cinema + Sports package at Rs 195 per month. It will be focusing mainly on this pack for the World Cup as it feels this covers most of the requirements of its customers. It will be coming out with high decibel campaigns on TV and print supported with BTL initiatives and digital media to give a 360 degree communication ahead of the World Cup, informs Kumar.

     

    Airtel Digital TV too has jumped on the World Cup bandwagon. For all customers buying Samsung Curve and UHD TV, it will offer HD DVR connection at the same cost as that of an HD connection. Customers will receive   discount coupons worth Rs 2650. Customers can enjoy watching the matches on an HD DVR by just paying Rs 2350. This box, which has an inbuilt hard disk of 500 GB can record content up to 750 hours enabling a customer  to record and watch the world cup matches at a convenient time. Also customers will get free subscription for up to 12 months through a scratch card offer. On other Samsung models, it is offering a discount coupon of Rs 660 on its HD+ variant. This comes along with an eight GB pen drive worth Rs 399, which is offered free. Additionally customers will get free subscription for up to 12 months through a scratch card offer.

     

    This edition of the World Cup will see the first global broadcast of cricket in 4K. Official broadcaster Star will telecast select matches, including India’s opening match against arch-rivals Pakistan, in the 4K format. Online shopping websites like Snapdeal, Amazon and Flipkart have priced the 4K TV’s between the range of Rs 60,000 (lower end) while the higher end categories are priced at an upwards of Rs one lakh.

     

    Videocon d2h too has launched 4K Ultra HD services. It has priced its STB at Rs 6590 for new customers while existing customers can upgrade to 4K DTH for Rs 5990. In addition to 4K channels and content, subscribers can use the STB to view Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) channels. While the website of Videocon d2h states that delivery of the STB will be made within two weeks from the date of booking, a call made to a customer care executive revealed that it would take around 48 hours.

     

    Dish TV chief operating officer Salil Kapoor expects the cricket World Cup to help further increase its existing customer base and therefore has tweaked its packaging. “Our packaging is very sports centric. Every tier of our packaging has the maximum number of sports channels. We have also kept in mind that HD will play a big role in the World Cup and therefore have maximum number of HD sports channels,” he says.

  • Yepme to sponsor West Indies team in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

    Yepme to sponsor West Indies team in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

    MUMBAI: Yepme will be the West Indies team sponsor for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand.

     

    The announcement was made by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). 

     

    WICB commercial manager Nelecia Yeates said, “We welcome Yepme to the West Indies cricket family of sponsors and partners for the world’s premier cricket event – the ICC Cricket World Cup. We look forward to a mutually beneficial association as the West Indies team remains one of the most attractive cricket teams in the world and will be one of the favourite teams in the World Cup.”

     

    Yepme founder and COO Sandeep Sharma added, “We are very excited about this sponsorship with the West Indies team in the ICC World Cup. Being the third largest sports tournament in the world, which will be seen in more than 182 countries, it’s a huge opportunity for Yepme to strengthen its vision as a global brand.”

     

    “We are glad to bring together two great teams, Yepme and the West Indies cricket team. The ICC World Cup 2015 is going to be one of the biggest sports events this year. West Indies, as always will be a strong contender for the World Cup and the association gives Yepme a global platform to showcase their brand,” said Baseline Ventures co-founder and director Vishal Jaison, which helped facilitate the deal.

     

    The Cricket World Cup commences on 14 February with West Indies playing their opening match on 16 February against Ireland.

  • ICC launches official mobile App for World Cup

    ICC launches official mobile App for World Cup

    MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC), in partnership with Reliance Communications, launched the official ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 app, which will be available for free download from the App Store and Google Play.

     

    The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, 11th edition of cricket’s flagship event, gets underway on 14 February and will see 14 of the best teams in the world compete for cricket’s top prize.

     

    The app will have a number of unique features and has been designed to enhance the user experience and enjoyment of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. It will keep fans thrilled with its innovative features and allow everyone to keep themselves up-to-date with all the latest news during the tournament – along with experiencing the best of ICC’s digital activations for the World Cup. So fans can play the Official ICC Cricket World Cup Fantasy League, pick their greatest all-time World Cup XI, play the official ICC Cricket World Cup quiz or look back over the 100 greatest World Cup moment countdown all on their smartphone or tablet.

     

    The app will provide access to the new ICC match centre that will keep fans abreast of the live action with the fastest source of live scores and ball-by-ball commentary. It will also contain video highlights and the most important moments of the match that will ensure that those who haven’t caught the action live on television will not miss out on anything. The video highlights will include all the dismissals, the magic moments, the big innings, the best dismissals and the post-match press conferences.

     

    When they choose their side, they will be notified of the latest news and updates surrounding their team throughout the tournament. In addition, the App will list all the relevant tournament statistics, so that scores, the top of the charts in run-scorers and wicket-takers, are all within easy reach.

     

    The App will also have details of all the fixtures and results. Viewers can read the reports that will be carried for every match and catch all the breaking news and any exclusive interviews that are conducted during the course of the tournament. There will also be interactive features of the app, where viewers can express their opinions through various polls that will sync with in-broadcast and get involved via the Social Hub section.

     

    The ICC will also have several former legends of the sport contribute exclusive columns that will offer their perspective on the spectacle that will be the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, all of which can be accessed through the App.

  • World Cup 2015 will be bigger and better: David Richardson

    World Cup 2015 will be bigger and better: David Richardson

    MUMBAI: With ICC Cricket World Cup fast approaching, several questions relating to the integrity of the sport are looming large. To jog our readers’ memory, not long back the world witnessed the shocking demise of Bob Woolmer while the tournament was on in 2007. To clear all such doubts and questions, ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said, “On the corruption side, it’s safe to say we’re the best prepared we’ve ever been.”  

     

    “There has been no stone left unturned,” he added even as preparations continue ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. However Richardson stressed on the need for players to remember their responsibilities to uphold the sport’s integrity at all times.

     

    On the eve of the eleventh edition of the tournament, Richardson strongly reinforced the ICC’s expectations on player behaviour as well as maintaining the game’s integrity at all times, on and off the field of play. “Over the last six months, or even going back further to the last Ashes series, there have been too many examples of player’s behaviour going too far and overstepping the boundaries of acceptances. The amount of sledging and disrespect shown by players to each other was bad. Since then, we have done a lot of work with our Umpires and Match Referees to ensure that they are much more pro-active in terms of policing behaviour on the field and when players do over-step the mark, taking appropriate action,” he asserted.

     

    While outlining the ICC’s recent worldwide clampdown in dealing with suspected illegal bowling actions, Richardson outlined the ICC’s position for the upcoming World Cup. “We want to make sure that we don’t lose ground on what I think has been significant progress over the last few months. We realised that we had a significant problem. There were just too many bowlers from all teams, bowling with suspected actions. So, I think we have made very good progress in identifying those bowlers, sending them off to be tested and where necessary, suspending them until they can remedy their actions,” he said.

     

    Substantiating his point, he further added, “There might be one or two bowlers who were suspended and who are now coming back into international cricket and the challenge for them will be to make sure that they maintain their remedied action. The instructions to the match officials will be no different and these matches will be treated exactly the same as any other international match. And if there are bowlers who are bowling with suspect actions, they will be reported.”

     

    With corruption and match-fixing specters that loom over world sport, Richardson credited the work of the local agencies, as well as the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU). He believes that the ICC is well-equipped to deal with these threats.

     

    “Our Anti-Corruption personnel have done a lot of work in entering into agreements, associations and arrangements with the local police and law enforcement agencies in both New Zealand and Australia. Our intelligence and information on who these corruptors are, and who may try and fix matches around the world, has grown. We know exactly where these people are and we have got a list of more than a hundred names that we will be passing on to these law enforcement agencies. It will be very difficult for anybody outside of the game to come and even attempt to try and corrupt players, umpires or anybody involved in the World Cup, to try and fix a match,” he emphasised.

     

    “In addition, the New Zealand and Australia governments have introduced specific legislation, which makes attempting to fix, or fixing matches, a criminal offence. This enables, not only us (ICC ACSU) but the police themselves to take much more specific and direct action against these people who are trying to corrupt the game,” Richardson added.

     

  • Fan base needs to increase for sports team monetisation: Panel

    Fan base needs to increase for sports team monetisation: Panel

    MUMBAI: India’s evolving sports ecosystem has a lot to offer in terms of opportunities for monetisation. But in order for that to happen, a stronger fan base with long term loyalty to respective teams and better infrastructure like stadiums need to be created. This was the opinion shared at a session on monetisation from sports in India titled ‘The M-Word “Monetisation”- Lessons To Learn,’ which was held at the Australia Business Week in India.
     
    The panelists included, Australian proximity engagement company and Touch Holdings managing director Simon Szewach, Populous senior principal Andrew James and SE TransStadia COO Hiren Pandit. The session was moderated by Victoria University Dean College of sport and exercise science professor Hans Westerbeek.
     
    The discussion began with Westerbeek asking the panelists whether it was worth investing in Indian sports? Pandit shared his knowledge by replying that investment in Indian sports can be seen in two ways; either as an associate with the sport or as a pure business investment. “Is the sport like the Indian Premier League (IPL) large enough for all franchises to make money?” he asked. He added saying that apart from making profits from their respective teams, owners had used their franchises for other better purposes than just receiving ROI. “The UB Group, which owns the Royal Challengers Bangalore uses the team to gain visibility because advertising of liquor brands is not allowed in India,” he informed.
     
    James felt that passion for the sport was the first step necessary for investment, followed by steps to connect with fans. “Currently there is a boom in the UK to build stadiums so that English Premier League (EPL) teams can connect better with the fan base. On the other hand, the Liverpool team has more fans in Indonesia than in the UK.” He opined that it was now necessary to capture this fan base and monetise it. For example Liverpool selling its jerseys in Indonesia and making profits from the same.
     
    Castellino then said that the honeymoon period, whereby sports is only looked in terms of passion, was over. “Sports should now be looked as a business seriously,” he said. He went on to say that it was a challenge to create winning franchises, which could deliver not just during tournaments but also during non-game events in order to pull in fans. Providing an analogy he said Manchester United had 80 per cent of its fan base in different parts of the world and 20 per cent only in the UK! He found that teams should first gather fans of this scale on board and then make money.
     
    Westerbeek then posed a second question: “Famous clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona are fan membership driven, wherein the profits are directed back towards these clubs. Is the club membership model effective in India?”

    Pandit, relating to the share market, said that India’s population was very large versus the size of investors, which was very small. He also found it difficult to define a “fan” in India due to their fickle nature as they tend to follow only a winning team. He therefore said that India was not ready to have a model where fans could own a team. “India is not a sporting nation but a nation of couch potatoes, who want to lie back and watch a match on television. Single person investors are ready but not 1,000 fans,” he emphasised.
     
    Szewach at this point interjected and said, “Passion for sports drives out when not reinforced through constant messages. There is a need to constantly engage with fans throughout the year.” He lamented about how he found it difficult to purchase jerseys of the IPL franchises in sport shops, even when the event was just a few months away.
     
    Castellino felt that professionalism, which has entered the Indian sports ecosystem now, would help in its growth in the long run.
     
    The discussion then revolved around the role of federations in India and if they were a stumbling block when it came to monetisation of sport entities.

    Pandit opined that most federations were interested in governing the sport rather than promoting it. “It is a complicated situation,” he said, adding that the challenge currently would be to prove to the government that they are only required for the short term and entities can become self sufficient in the long run. “Studies have shown that our stadiums are used only for two per cent of the time and therefore are under utilised. There exists a vicious cycle between grassroots programme and monetisation,” he said.
     
    James recalled his first visit to India 10 years ago wherein he met N Srinivasan and Lalit Modi. He found it shocking how one single Indian player could earn more income versus the revenue generated by stadiums. “It is extremely inexpensive to build a stadium in India versus the cost of building a 500 million pound stadium in the UK,” he said.

    Post the discussion, the panel was seen sharing their thoughts with the audience. They were of the opinion that much more was needed to be done and there were a lot of opportunities for sponsorships for various teams. Westerbeek concluded by saying, “It is about two magic words – ecosystem and opportunities – for the Indian sports market. A lot more concrete definition would come by in the next five years.”

  • SC instructs BCCI to pay service tax for recording matches

    SC instructs BCCI to pay service tax for recording matches

    MUMBAI: The apex court of India has directed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to pay service tax for recording cricket matches, citing the reason that it was a service provider. The decision came in the wake of the Supreme Court dismissing a plea seeking to challenge the levying of the service tax on it.

    A bench consisting of Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice AK Sikri posed the question. “If it (recording of match for live telecast) is not a service tax matter then what it can be,” as the BCCI counsel sought to circumvent the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) order upholding the levying of service tax.

    The cricket board had moved to court after CESTAT had directed it to pay Rs 18 crore for the period from 2006 to 2010.The CESTAT order was passed on 28 August 2014.

    The court further observed that whatever activity was undertaken by the BCCI in the country ‘is a service’. Declining the plea by the domestic cricket body, the court in its concluding statement noted that “recording is also an art as billions and billions of people are watching it”. 
    The BCCI asserted that it was just the recording of the match and was not a production activity.