MUMBAI: The personal transportation app Ola has jumped on board as the official cab partner of four teams playing in the on-going Indian Super League (ISL) namely Mumbai City FC, FC Pune City, Delhi Dynamos FC and Atlético de Kolkata.
Ola will also give away free VIP, VVIP and Hospitality passes for the games of these four teams on select days to Ola customers, straight from their app.
Ola vice president Sudarshan Gangrade said, “Football is catching up as a major sport in the country with the formation of popular leagues like the ISL. The young and fast growing Ola user base has a large number of sporting enthusiasts and this is a wonderful opportunity for us to engage with them. With this partnership, Ola users not only gain instant access to their favourite ISL matches, but also to convenient and hassle free mobility options to reach the venue- all from the Ola app.”
Atlético de Kolkata secretary Subrata Talukdar added, “We are delighted to partner with Ola. Ola’s partnership will go a long way in helping us reach out to millions of fans across the country as well as solve the mobility issue for everyone coming to see the matches. Parking and traffic hassles can be significantly minimized with fans now being able to use Ola for reaching the match venues.”
In another sports associations earlier this year, Ola was the official cab partner for five Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 cricket teams namely Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab.
MUMBAI: After promoting the cause of cricket by sponsoring the South African T20 cricket team, the wallet service provider Oxigen has joined hands with Kerala Blasters Football Club as their official payments solution sponsors.
Owned by Sachin Tendulkar, who is Oxigen’s brand ambassador, the Kerala-based club will be competing for top honours in the eleven-week long Indian Super League (ISL). The franchise finished runners-up on the back of a strong showing in the inaugural ISL season last year.
Oxigen Services founder & managing director Pramod Saxena said, “With the launch of the ISL, the Indian football landscape has received a major boost to the popularity of the game, global exposure and encouragement to the players and aspirant youngsters. Through our partnership with Sachin Tendulkar’s Kerala Blasters FC, we are looking to leverage this exposure while at the same time supporting the rise of the Indian football fraternity. Sports, is a great medium, to carry our message to a wider cross section of our young population who will drive the digital revolution including mobile wallets usage in a big way.”
Tendulkar added, “I welcome Oxigen Wallet’s association with Kerala Blasters as the official payment partners for season 2 of the ISL. We look forward to a long association with Oxigen and to jointly offer some exciting initiatives for the many fans of Kerala Blasters.”
MUMBAI: When the Indian Super League (ISL) launched last year with the ‘Let’s Football’ tag line, it created a significant buzz across the country. With many a ‘firsts’ like having Nicolas Anelka dribbling on Indian ground and Indian spectators getting an opportunity to witness living legends like Luis Garcia, Del Piero and Robert Pires playing in front of their eyes, 410 million people in India echoed ‘Let’s Football’with Neeta Ambani and Star India CEO Uday Shankar.
That said, the big looming question was: Was football a revenue generating asset for broadcasters? There is virtually no time for a single advertisement in either of the two 45 minutes halves, and in an era where constant partial attention is at its peak, for viewers to stick to same channel during half time break seemed to be an unrealistic proposition.
Nonetheless, as the saying goes, “Where there is a will there is a way!” The second season of ISL, which kicked-off on 3 October on Star Sports, has already brought the broadcaster in excess of Rs 100 crore in revenue from multiple brand sponsorships.
While before the season began, it was speculated that Star Sports head Nitin Kukreja and his team raked in close to Rs 97 crore excluding revenues from digital broadcast from ISL season 2, the figure has now crossed the Rs 100 crore mark.
A source close to the development tells Indiantelevision.com, “The last minute inclusion of Servo as a sponsor has made the Rs 100 crore landmark look possible. The way Star has sold the inventory is an example for the industry. There were so many new avenues that opened up. If we include digital revenues, Star has easily crossed the Rs 100 crore mark.”
Hero Motocorp, as the title sponsor, pays close to Rs 20 crore per year to Star. Apart from that, the channel has Maruti Suzuki, DHL, Pond’s Men, Gatorade, Flipkart, Servo, U Quit I Quit, Hewlett Packard, Puma, Volini, The Muthoot Group, Amul, Manyavar and Imperial Blue as advertisers in its kitty.
DHL, the official partners of Manchester United and Bayern Munchen, has also joined hands with Star India to be the logistics and time partner. As a part of the partnership, DHL gets presence on the screen that shows time on ground.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, DHL India country manager and senior vice president R S Subramaniam says, “Last year’s performance and prominence of the league was the main reason behind us joining the league. It is a one year deal that we have signed and we may renew it in the future too.”
Mumbai City FC CEO and CAA Kwan COO Indranil Das Blah adds, “The league has kicked off to a flyer. Once the TV numbers are out, we will have a better understanding of the scenario. Overall, the on-ground interaction has gone up and so has the sponsor’s interest.”
Mumbai City FC also witnessed a 20 per cent growth in terms of revenue generation as per sources.
“Sports no longer is a sport on screen now. It’s all about packaging and Star, first with Pro Kabaddi League and now with ISL, has proved that smart packaging can make every sport lucrative. Revenue generation was never a concern this season. The concern was with expectations. Last year, ISL was a surprise. Now there is a burden of expectation and if the tourney fails to meet expectations, it would be considered as a flying bubble,” a senior media planner says on condition of anonymity.
While it remains to be seen if the tournament will help India in becoming a footballing nation but the revenue created from the sport certainly creates new benchmarks. No doubt proper packaging and smart monetisation can make every sport lucrative.
MUMBAI: Star India’s sports broadcaster Star Sports, will telecast the first ever auction of football players in India live and exclusive on Friday, 10 July, 2015 from Mumbai. The Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2015 domestic player auction and draft will witness the top football talent in the country going under the hammer, with the eight teams bidding aggressively to add the finest Indian football talent to their roster.
The auction will go live at 10 am on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD2 and will be anchored by renowned broadcaster and football expert John Dykes. Charlie Ross, resident auctioneer of Gooding and Company, the American vintage automobile auctioneers and for Mac Dougalls, the Russian Fine Art Auction House, will head the auction proceedings for the day.
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The auction will be followed by a domestic draft with 114 players available for selection in the second season of the Hero Indian Super League.
The auction and draft day telecast will begin with a special in-depth analysis on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD 2 on what to expect at the auction and draft. Star Sports presenter Seema Jaswal along with former footballers and experts Paul Masefield and Bengaluru FC coach Ashley Westwood will be a part of the pre-auction show. A special one hour wrap up show featuring all the action from the day long auction will broadcast between 10:30 pm – 11:30 pm on Star Sports 4 & Star Sports HD4.
Each club is regulated to have a minimum squad of 22 players and maximum of 25, consisting of one marquee, eight international and 13 domestic players including two mandatory under-23 developmental players.
MUMBAI: Italy’s premier football championship Serie A, which was jointly aired by Star India’s Star Sports and Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ Ten Sports so far, is all set to change airwaves in India.
Sources close to the development tell Indiantelevision.com that the asset is no longer associated with Star Sports and Ten Sports and will most definitely be on another network. Pertinent to note here is that while Star acquired the broadcasting rights of German Bundesliga earlier this year, it also has the English Premier League, Football Association Cup and La Liga (Spain) in its plump kitty. Besides the international assets, Star also owns the broadcasting rights of the burgeoning home-made Indian Super League (ISL).
On the other hand, Ten Sports has the rights to UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, which are both continental based football championship featuring top ranked teams of leagues across Europe.
It may be recalled that Multi Screen Media (MSM) recently launched Sony Kix – a paid sports channel and has been looking to acquire quality content. While the company has the broadcasting rights of the FIFA World Cup and Euro Qualifiers, it is currently relaying Copa America. Moreover, in the recent past, the broadcaster also aired the Africa Cup of Nations. The missing feather in MSM’s kitty is quality club football.
During a recent interaction with this website, MSM CEO NP Singh had said, “Football is garnering huge viewership in India. Whenever and wherever there are opportunities to acquire any other football properties, we will aggressively go for it. We are working to settle a deal, which we will be able to announce in a couple of months.”
Given the scenario, it is most likely that Serie A will soon be reaching viewers through MSM’s sports channels. However, when contacted to confirm the news, MSM officials refrained from giving a statement.
Sony Six registered high viewership last year courtesy to FIFA World Cup, India’s tour of New Zealand. What’s more, 2015 has also been action packed so far. Serie A has many renowned players and league champion Juventus made substantial mark in European Level too as they played the final in Berlin against Spanish La Liga champion Barcelona. The league did not manage to garner high viewership in the past, since no serious coverage was done and it was often suppressed by other leagues. However, if the league is telecast by Sony Six and Kix, it will get special treatment as the tourney will be the only club league is MSM’s kitty.
Football in India is opening avenues for advertisers and there are huge revenue generating possibilities that the sport offers broadcasters. A senior sports media planner opines, “We have seen pop-up banners in the bottom of the screen during EPL matches, so this can be one mode of advertising for broadcasters to look out for. Italian SerieA won’t be as popular as EPL but a Milan Derby or a match involving Juventus is certain to get eyeballs. Viewership also depends on the treatment given by broadcaster. If planned properly, it can be beneficial for the broadcaster that pockets the rights.”
It now remains to be seen if indeed MSM seals the deal and whether Sony Six and Kix become the new screens for Serie A lovers in India.
MUMBAI: The Rs 700 crore deal between All India Football Federation (AIFF) and IMG-Reliance, signed after the contract termination between AIFF and Zee Sport, gave IMG-Reliance the opportunity of kick-starting a new football league in India namely the Indian Super League (ISL).
The 15-year deal between AIFF and IMG-Reliance signed in 2010 will subsequently conclude in 2025. The deal gave IMG-Reliance exclusive commercial rights to sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting, merchandising, video, franchising, and rights to create a new football league.
Naysayers termed the emergence of ISL as a threat to traditional I-League but Television Audience Measurement (TAM) ratings for the 2014 -15 season sang a completely different tune.
I-League, which was telecast on Zee’s Ten Sports and Ten Action, garnered 79 TVTs in 2014-15 season which is 13 per cent more than 70 TVTs of the 2013-14 season. In terms of TVRs, the league registered 11 per cent growth in the current seasons.
Speaking exclusively to Indiantelevision.com AIFF general secretary Kushal Das says, “I-League’s growth this year is really encouraging and it proves what I have always been saying that both ISL and I-League will complement each other and there is no chance of one posing threat over other. This year the growth has been because of various reasons. Infrastructure played a vital role, quality of matches were good and the players wanted to leave a mark so that they could have a bigger opportunity and that’s where ISL helped. Overall, it has been a very positive year for the League.”
The conclusion of 2014-15 season also marked an end to the 10 year broadcasting deal with Ten Sports. The league had no advertiser on board in the current season. When asked if the network will bid again for the asset Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi says, “I-League is an organised mechanism, which reflects the national interest. In England we have English Premier League and this edition of I-League has been a major encouragement. The interest level was high, we witnessed 20000 attendance in the final and football is more widespread across the nation now. So it’s no longer Bengal, Kerela and Goa… it’s all over the country. ISL at a macro level has increased the pie of football and all these factors make I-League an interesting prospect. Hence we will be of course going for it and see how things are.”
Football viewership in India was descending at a brisk pace till ISL came into picture. While in 2012 it was 137 GVTs, in 2013 it dropped to 127 GVTs. However, the emergence of ISL in 2014 heaped it up to a mammoth 215 GVTs, which is only second to cricket. Not only GVTs, in terms of cumulative reach, football in India reached to mammoth 637 million viewers, which forced advertisers to pay attention to the sport.
“The only way for football in India is upwards. The sport will witness a 360 degree growth. After the success of ISL, advertisers are looking at the sport with a different vision. I don’t know if I–League singlehandedly can turn out to be a highly revenue generating asset for broadcaster but overall if bundled properly, it may turn out to be an interesting prospect. However, having said that I feel that football will witness a holistic growth,” asserts a senior media planning expert.
It now remains to be seen which channel becomes the screen for I-League and if both the leagues can ensure prosperity at the same time. Overall after the 1950s, it’s the first time that football is becoming a prime force in the sports fraternity.
MUMBAI: Sports is a lucrative genre for broadcasters as advertisers fritter huge sums of money for both on-ground and on-air sponsorships. However, the bang for their buck is received only when the camera lens captures their brand. Moreover, viewers too expect an exquisite exhibition of imagery on their television screen for sporting events. All this and more is tirelessly taken care of by the sports production unit deployed on the field.
At a time when ‘sports’ in India is synonymous with ‘cricket’ as ‘photocopy’ is to ‘Xerox,’ Kolkata based Greymind Communications aspires to be the lenses covering all the football matches in the Indian sub-continent as well as in South East Asia.
Greymind Communications founded by Anilava Chatterjee and Aniruddha Goharoy kicked off its journey in 2006 by producing the live telecast of Sahara Kolkata Premier League. The matches were shown on the Bengali news channel 24 Ghanta for two consecutive years (2006 and 2007). Greymind also produced 33 live matches of Calcutta Football League (CFL) for Star Network and matches were shown on Jalsa Movies this year. Last year, the company produced 65 live matches for same network in CFL and IFA Shield.
Speaking exclusively to Indiantelevision.com, Chatterjee asserts, “We have traveled a long distance since our inception and there are miles to go as we have high aspirations. When we started our journey in 2006, the scenario was different in India. Now it’s getting better everyday, which is a huge encouragement for us. Last year we covered CFL for Star India and I must say Star has raised the bar with their quality conscious quotient. The experience with CFL 2014 – 15 was a morale booster for us. The matches had thrill and the crowd liked it. We managed to get highest ever television ratings for the sport.”
Having their share of covering big-ticket matches of international magnitude, Greymind also shot the Argentina VS Venezuela match featuring Lionel Messi in Salt Lake Stadium Kolkata. “The stadium had more than one lakh spectators screaming Messi’s name and there were billions across the globe sitting in front of television screens to see Messi dribbling and dodging. We covered the Argentina VS Venezuela match in 2011 in HD and it was indeed a great experience. We deployed 16 cameras with one fixed on Messi. The match was going to be covered worldwide and there was no room for a glitch. I am happy to say that we successfully covered the match,” Chaterjee adds.
While 16 cameras in a football match is not that big a figure as the UEFA Champions League, English Premier League and other important football tournament matches are covered by as many as 32 – 40 HD cameras with a camera fixed on each player. On the other hand, a few of them focus on the crowd, managers, staffs and officials. In that sense, there is a lot yet to be done in India. Greymind produced I League 2014-15 with 11 cameras whereas IMG covered Indian Super League (ISL) with 17 cameras.
Speaking on the difference in production quality, Chatterjee says, “The quality is directly proportional to the production investment, which is gradually increasing with time in India. This year I League’s production was better than previous year’s. Also, besides production investment, there are a few relevant factors too, on which the quality depends. For example, a match in Salt Lake stadium with lesser crowd will look bad on screen no matter what. So a Kolkata Derby with the same number of cameras in the same stadium looks way better than any other match because of the house full stadiums. In Europe or America. the stands are always full.”
Besides camera there are other technical aspects too which makes football look the way it does on screen feels Chatterjee sharing his experience he asserts, “I went to Brazil to see the world cup matches both how teams are playing as well as how it is produced, they use an analytical software called Deltatray which gives live analysis of how much a player ran and other individual statistics the cost of that software is more than the entire production cost in India.”
In India production cost for an I League, CFL or an international match is around Rs 7 lakhs for Standard Definition (SD) coverage and can go up to Rs 10 lakhs for High Definition (HD) coverage. IMG produced ISL’s production cost goes as high up as Rs 30 lakh per match.
“ISL has rejuvenated the entire football fraternity and I expect it to grow bigger and better with time. The tournament garnered huge viewership on television and the stadiums were also houseful. If football becomes big in India, production standards will also go up,” says Chatterjee.
Stepping up on their game, Greymind’s will be producing India’s World Cup qualifiers (four matches) on behalf of IMG this year. The first match is scheduled to be played against Oman on 11 June, 2015 in Bengaluru.
“This would be a huge challenge for us and we are really looking forward to this event. Getting to cover on behalf of IMG is a big achievement for us and it’s also an opportunity to make a mark on the international market. It will be a high definition coverage and will be aired on Sony Six,” informs Chatterjee.
When queried as to whether there was a gap in skill, which effects the execution, Chatterjee says, “I don’t think there is a huge difference in skill. It’s the investment that’s different. We deploy around 70 skilled technicians who have the potential to work on numerous systems and cameras. It’s the basic that matters. Technicians equipped with strong basic will be able to work on any system.”
Quality TV production in Indian Super League has already created a major impact on Indian football and the same stands true for I League and West Bengal State League (aka Sahara Kolkata Premier League). Last year, TVR for Kolkata Derby, which was produced for Star Sports and aired on Jalsa Movies, was higher than World Cup Football final in this market. Efforts are made to enhance the standard of TV production through innovations and expertise. This year, Greymind used super slow motion camera and drone camera to add more values in I League matches.
Looking ahead, the company aspires to emerge as a strong player in South East Asian market and is also looking to strengthen its digital production by launching a website and promote shows like Extra Time.
“Our goal is to make the sports competitive, widely watched, media and sponsor friendly through high quality TV production and build up stars who would be the iconic faces for football in India. Our primary target is to produce quality live football shows in South Asia. We firmly believe that quality and standard of football largely depends on quality of TV production. So the South Asian countries, who are not doing well in terms of FIFA ranking and domestic league, can be given best quality TV production,” Chatterjee concludes.
MUMBAI: After close to two years with Nimbus Sport as its general manager, Varun Mathur has decided to take a big leap but within the confines of his expertise – sports management and marketing.
Mathur will be partnering with ITW managing director and CEO Vikram Tanwar to lead the new initiative called ITW Sport+.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com about his new venture, Mathur says, “I will be leading the new initiative as a shareholder and director.”
Mathur will be based out of Delhi NCR.
The new unit will be focussed on three key areas. The company will be involved with rights management in non-cricket sports like football, Formula 1 and tennis amongst others. It will also look at acquiring and managing digital rights of sports. Additionally, ITW Sport+ will also explore third party right management of athletes and sports celebrities in the sports ecosystem.
“The focus will be on representation of football teams in the Indian Super League, various Kabaddi teams and sports consulting too,” informs Mathur.
Talking about the core thought behind the new initiative, he says, “Currently there is a huge empty space in the sports ecosystem for a large size sports management firm. There are many players who are doing smaller chunks of business but there is no large consolidated player. We want to change that element and are going to occupying that space.”
As far a cricket is concerned, Mathur informs that ITW already has its presence there as it looks after most of the bilateral cricketing series rights.
ITW, as a sports management company, specializes in consulting in sports rights acquisition and negotiation, licensing, concept development, in stadia branding among others. It also holds rights for international cricket.
At Nimbus, Mathur was responsible for several key deals. These include bagging a XOLO (Lava Smartphone) for the EPL club, Liverpool FC and signing of ISL team Atletico De Kolkata with the telco as Aircel as its first principle sponsor.
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.
KOLKATA: Sports event management company Celebrity Management Group (CMG) has put forth a proposal to the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) for organising a football league following the highly successful Indian Super League (ISL).
Also, CMG has offered to purchase all sponsorship and marketing rights of the Bangladesh national team.
CMG brought legendary Diego Maradona to Kolkata for a two-day promotional tour. CMG also helped BFF host the Argentina versus Nigeria FIFA Friendly in Dhaka in September 2011 besides organising a game between Argentina and Venezuela around the same time in Kolkata.
It is further learnt that the events management company CMG has sought to host FIFA friendly matches for the Bangladesh national team for the next one-and-a-half years.
CMG has reportedly suggested it will provide funds and arrange the opposition teams and venues for the games. The company will own the sponsoring, broadcasting and ticketing rights.
CMG executive director Bhaswar Goswami said that they were in negotiations with the BFF and concrete developments could take place next month. “Yes, such a proposal has been made, but it is too early to say anything, further developments are likely to happen in around last week of January or the beginning of February,” Goswami said.
“I have very good relations with (Diego) Maradona, who visited India twice at my request. I requested him to be involved with our initiative,” Goswami said.
The BFF has decided to form a committee to look into the proposals.
