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Tag: IPTL

  • The year of improved sports marketing and production

    The year of improved sports marketing and production

    The year 2014 may have seen a few new leagues coming up but cricket very clearly rules the roost both from an on ground and on air perspective.  While gap between cricket and other sports have shortened, it’s still quite significant.  Indian Super League (ISL) has begun well with aggressive marketing and managed to garner eyeballs for Indian football. ISL has also garnered encouraging response from advertisers. For the first time a non-cricket sports has more than six central on ground sponsors.  Though lot of work need to be done in the grass root development of football, it’s been a great beginning considering its first season.

    Moving onto FIFA, the market in India for the sport is growing every four years as can be seen from the last three editions.  We have beaten the benchmarks of 2010 in 2014. It also generated lot of hype that helped garner newer audiences and fan base. Overall football, as a sport is growing and FIFA being the biggest football tournament has managed to score on all counts. The cumulative efforts over the last five to eight years, by  FIFA, European Soccer Leagues and the broadcast community backed by audience desire to see a more local flavor of football has helped in the formation of the ISL. 

    The surprise package of 2014 was the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), a pleasant surprise I must say. It was a league which was very well marketed and packaged with fantastic production value. While everyone thought of Kabaddi as rural sports, it’s quite interesting to see viewership numbers ticking from metros.  Looking forward to season 2 of PKL with a hope that it continues to attract audience and build stickiness.

    Indian Badminton League (IBL) launched in 2013 with top international talent and lot of fan following, missed the show in 2014. Hope to see IBL back with bigger and better show in 2015. The Hockey India League (HIL) also showcased fabulous production quality and packaging. HIL has also managed to grab reasonable response from advertisers till now. Currently with the fabulous winning performance of team India, in 2015 we would like to see a better marketing of HIL to attract and hold audience attention.

    The Champions Tennis League (CTL) and the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) both failed to generate buzz because of lack of marketing efforts. CTL has been a bit disappointing with respect to the production value, while IPTL’s production was world class. Expectations from IPTL were quite high considering the participation of big current stars and legends like Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras, Serena Williams etc…. Aspirational and emotional connect with IPTL was very high for the fans who have been following tennis for more than two decades. It was like a dream coming true to see the likes of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras, Serena Williams or even Sania Mirza playing in India. There was high interest in fans to go and see their heroes play live and get to meet them or get a closer glimpse of them.  But would that translate into TV viewership is something we will have to wait and watch. Therefore while CTL’s structure is towards building affinity for tennis as a sport with a hope that more Indian start playing the game. IPTL is clearly going after the experience of getting up and close with the big international stars and ride on their popularity to garner eyeballs. However considering the structure of both leagues, the overall objective of both leagues is little unclear.

    Marketing and production values of these sports have been a key highlight this year.  Sport marketing in India has been ahead of the curve in terms of marketing and production value. Great production values along with a greater thrust on marketing has led to a stronger audience and advertising interaction.

    ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 is the biggest sporting event in 2015 and will continue to attract audience in large numbers. The advertising pie will grow and be bigger than 2011 as other sports are still catching up and are in the development phase.

     

    (These are purely personal views of GroupM ESP national director entertainment sports and live events Vinit Karnik and indiantelevision.com does not necessarily subscribe to these views)

  • Aircel Chennai Open gears up for its 20th edition. Mind It!

    Aircel Chennai Open gears up for its 20th edition. Mind It!

    Mumbai: The year saw many sports being launched in the country, reconfirming the belief that sports bug has bitten the country.

    While India saw two new tennis leagues, Champions Tennis League and the International Premier Tennis League, being introduced, the Aircel Chennai Open slated to begin from 5 to 11 January 2015, will be in its 20th edition.

     Aircel remains the title sponsor till 2016, the platinum sponsors include Government of Tamil Nadu, Indian Bank, United India Assurance, Murugappa Group and Indian Overseas Bank. The official partners are FedEx, Ricoh, KGS , FIAT, The Hindu, Hyatt Regency, TATA water Plus, Billroth Hospitals, Air Asia, Wilson, Reliance Footprint, and Chennai Live FM. Tennishub.in will be ‘Official Merchandise Partner’ of the tournament.

    Star Sports had bagged the broadcast deal for three years for the Open till 2016. Fans can watch the live telecast of group stage, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals of the open on its channels and live streaming will also be available on starsports.com.

    The tournament, which first began in 1996 and owned by IMG and organised by IMG Reliance, has set a budget of Rs 12 crore. The title sponsor provides 42 per cent of the revenue which is five crore, the other sponsors bring in 37 per cent of the revenue amounting Rs 4.5 crore, the broadcast partner brings in 17 per cent of the revenue share, which is close to two crore while the ticket revenue is pegged close to Rs 50 lakh.

    For this year’s edition the assembly of talent includes four top-25 players and three 2014 ATP World Tour Award winners who will be participating. These include world number four and defending Singles champion Stan Wawrinka, Feliciano Lopez, Roberto Bautista Agut, and former Champion Janko Tipsarevic, returning to competitive tennis after surgery and granted a wild card. India’s Somdev Devvarman and Ramkumar Ramanathan have been granted wild cards

    The tickets of the tournament have been priced at Rs 5,000, 3,000 and 1,500 on the tournaments official ticketing partner, bookmyshow.com.

    Speaking about the three tennis league in India, GroupM ESP national director entertainment sports and live events Vinit Karnik says, “The Champions Tennis League may need some improvement, while the IPTL has created a mark in terms of visibility because of the big stars . Tennis is still considered to be a premium sport. Therefore, one needs to build affinity for the sport, since the affinity levels are low because there are not many people playing the sport. Therefore consistency, in terms of ratings, viewership and followers will not be there for the three leagues.  But these three are trying to create enough buzz that at least the urban youth start playing tennis.” he concludes.

     

  • Nimbus Sports and the million dollar deals

    Nimbus Sports and the million dollar deals

    MUMBAI: Many will agree that with new sporting leagues making in-roads in the country in 2014, the business perception towards each of these sports have also changed. The size of ticket sales has swelled up and so has the viewership patterns on TV- at least for a few.  There have also been some interesting million dollar sponsorship deals that sports management companies have been brokering for tournaments and franchises, beyond cricket. One such company is Nimbus Sports which is the sports marketing division of Nimbus Communications.

     

    Nimbus Sport has been involved in managing rights transactions worth over US$ 2 billion to date, claims its website. According to sources, it currently has an extensive golf portfolio worth $3.5 million which includes the Hero National Open. The National Open which will be in its 51st edition in 2015, will be moving towards the European tour for the first time, making it the only European Championship in the South East Asia region.  

     

    The championship will have prize money of $1.5 million. Nimbus has signed the deal with Hero as the title sponsor for three years and is valued at close to $3 million. The tournament will be held from 16 to 22 February 2015. Ten Sports is the broadcaster for the European tour in India. The championship will have 50 global broadcasters delivering 650 plus broadcasts with a combined excess reach of 530 million household across six continents, says a source close to the development.

     

    Other sponsors who have come on board for the Open are international brands like Emirates, Rolex, and EP World through three season deals.  Industry experts peg these deals at quarter million dollar each.

     

    Adding to this is another golf property, the Vodafone Tee Walk. In January 2014, the business arm of Vodafone India, Vodafone Business Services appointed Nimbus Sport to manage the corporate golf series. It was held across four cities and is currently in its sixth edition. To enhance the overall experience, the company introduced mobile apps and swing analysis. The series was telecast on Neo Sports.

     

    For the ongoing Hero Indian Super League, the company was the official representative of commercial negotiations for Atletico de Kolkata. As part of the deal it helped the team gain a principal sponsor with telco Aircel. This deal is pegged at $1 million for a single year with the right to renew it further.

     

    On the international front, early this year, Nimbus claimed to be the first Indian agency to broker an international deal with premier football club, Liverpool FC and XOLO.  This was the clubs first regional marketing partnership in India. According to sports experts, it is a two and a half season deal worth $1 million per year. The deal offered Indian fans to enjoy content from the club on their handsets, merchandise and the chance to meet former and current players from the club.

    Says a brand consultant  who comments on this deal, “XOLO could have partnered with better known club like Manchester United but by partnering with Liverpool it wanted to be seen as a challenger to the existing order.”

     

    Speaking on the nature of such deals, an industry expert on condition of anonymity comments, “These are not just plain vanilla deals but custom made opportunities for brands to invest. The Aircel deal indicates a region wise targeting, as the brand seems to push for a local connect. The landscape clearly is seeing business goals being integrated into better platforms not just for cricket, but other sports which are becoming popular.”

     

    The company plans to work with leagues like Champions Tennis League, International Premier Tennis League and Formula 1 teams in the coming years.  Some of the deals could see bearing fruit by 2015 or 2016. Sources say, it was approached by Pro Kabaddi League teams this year but much could not be done as they were offered a turnaround time of 15 days which was too short. But in the coming years it seeks to tap on the growing ecosystem.

  • Coca-Cola IPTL names FedEx as the official logistics partner

    Coca-Cola IPTL names FedEx as the official logistics partner

    MUMBAI: One of the world’s largest express transportation company FedEx, has announced its association with the Coca Cola International Premier Tennis League.  The league will be held at Manila, Singapore, New Delhi and Dubai from 28 November to 13 December 2014. 

     

    FedEx services executive vice president marketing and communications Raj Subramaniam commented, “In the past, FedEx has successfully leveraged sports marketing to connect with customers. IPTL provides an additional platform to communicate with customers in addition to sharing the FedEx brand characteristics of speed and precision.”

     

    The Coca-Cola IPTL presented by Qatar Airways is a professional team tennis competition founded by India’s Mahesh Bhupathi, featuring some of the best current and past champions and played across four countries in Asia. 

     

    FedEx Express vice president EMEA customer service, MEIA marketing and  communications  Nathalie Amiel-Ferrault  said, “FedEx is pleased to share the passion and excitement of the team based professional tennis league and of having the best of the best in tennis playing in front of the public in the four key cities. We share many attributes with tennis as a sport and that’s what makes this association such a great fit.” 

     

    The Coca-Cola IPTL will showcase iconic tennis players like Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Novak Djokovic in these countries. The league is expected to reach over 125 countries and 300 million households internationally and will be broadcasted in the US, Brazil, Europe, South-East Asia, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. FedEx has a history of tennis sponsorships and currently sponsors Roland-Garros in France and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) across 13 countries. 

     

     

  • Coca Cola IPTL gets Qatar Airways onboard as presenting sponsor

    Coca Cola IPTL gets Qatar Airways onboard as presenting sponsor

    MUMBAI: The national carrier of the state of Qatar, Qatar Airways, has teamed up with Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) as the presenting sponsor for the inaugural edition of the event. In its capacity as the presenting sponsor, it will be undertaking a series of on-ground activations to engage with tennis fans across the globe.  

     

    Founder of IPTL Mahesh Bhupathi said, “Qatar Airways’ legacy as a committed sponsor of global sports events is well known. We’re glad to partner with an award winning airline like them as presenting sponsor and look forward to enjoying a long and fruitful association during and after the IPTL season.”

     

    The tennis league is the first of its kind initiative in tennis to encourage a competitive franchise based competition. The league will travel to the cities of Manila, Singapore, New Delhi and Dubai featuring current and former ATP and WTA players in its inaugural season from 28 November until 13 December 2014.

     

    Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar Al Baker said: “We are extremely excited about our partnership with the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League. At Qatar Airways, we have a long-standing history of associations with large-scale sporting events which allows us to connect with sporting fans and legendary sportsmen across the globe through our widespread global route network. Qatar Airways’ associations with this event will further promote the game among the increasing fan base of tennis enthusiasts across the world.”

     

    Starting from the Philippines, the league will travel to Singapore and India before culminating in Dubai. In its inaugural season, the championship will feature players such as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and others playing for four tournament franchises – Manila Mavericks, DBS Singapore Slammers, Micromax Indian Aces and the UAE Royals, that have been sponsored by corporates and leading sports legends.

     

  • IPTL announces team coaches for inaugural edition

    IPTL announces team coaches for inaugural edition

    MUMBAI:  One of the most exciting new developments in tennis tournament is the highly anticipated International Premier Tennis League (IPTL). The championship league, that is all set to launch in November 2014, has appointed veteran tennis coaches Joshua Eagle and John Laffnie De Jager as coaches of the Singapore ‘Slammers’ and the UAE ‘Royals’ respectively. The distinguished Fabrice Santoro and Manila native Treat Huey, who is currently ranked ATP Doubles World No. 40, will be the player-coaches for the Micromax Indian ‘Aces’ and Manila ‘Mavericks’.

     

    The revolutionary new league promises an exciting format and exclusive innovations that will change the way in which the world enjoys this top sport. Some of these thrilling features include time outs, power points, shoot-outs, a running shot clock, and venues equipped with Hawk-Eye will keep all spectators in the stadium and viewers watching from home at the edge of their seats. There will also be live entertainment during all matches.

     

    The traditional scoring format has been changed to single-set no-add scoring, which will speed up the games and enable the fans to experience up to 24 different players in one exhilarating evening.  While each match will consist of 5 sets comprising men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and former Champions singles, each game won will count as one point for the team points total. The team, that wins the most games overall across the five sets, wins the match. Coaches will play significant roles during each match, guiding players on team strategy, calling for time-outs to discuss strategy, fostering a team atmosphere and getting each player to play for the team in a sport considered highly individual. All four coaches will help their respective teams formulate a winning strategy.

     

    France’s Fabrice Santoro is player and coach of the Micromax Indian ‘Aces’. He is a distinguished doubles player, holds several ATP records, and has made an unbeaten 70 appearances in singles competition at Grand Slam events. He is also the only male player to have appeared in Grand Slam singles competitions in four different decades. Fabrice’s charming demeanor and repertoire of trick shots make him a delight to watch.

     

    Singapore ‘Slammers’ coach Joshua Eagle is a former professional male tennis player and current professional tennis coach from Australia. In January 2013, he was appointed as the Australian Davis Cup coach, having previously won Tennis Australia’s elite coaching excellence award in 2012 for helping Australian Marinko Matosevic break into the top 50 from outside 200. Eagle is classified as a doubles specialist and has won five ATP doubles titles.

     

    UAE Royals coach John-Laffnie de Jager is a South African former tour professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, de Jager reached the semi-finals for three different grand slam tournaments three times in three different years partnering three different fellow South African players. De Jager is the current non-playing captain of the South Africa Davis Cup team.

     

    Like Santoro, Filipino-American tennis player Treat Huey is also player and coach. The Manila ‘Mavericks’ player specializes in doubles and has reached three finals on the ATP World Tour. Huey reached his career-high doubles ranking of World No. 21 in November 2013. The 28-year-old is the Philippines’ #1 and current ATP Doubles World No. 40. The player’s fans will get to see him live in action at a home event for the first time.

     

    The new team tennis competition featuring the best current and former ATP and WTA players will be played across 4 selected cities in Asia (Manila, Singapore, Delhi and Dubai) from 28 November to 13 December 2014.

  • Sportklub to broadcast IPTL in South East Europe

    Sportklub to broadcast IPTL in South East Europe

    MUMBAI: UFA Sports which has been appointed as the agency responsible for the worldwide distribution of media rights for the upcoming International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), has negotiated an agreement with Sportklub concerning the broadcast of the league in South East Europe.

     

    The broadcaster covering the Balkan region with seven sports channels will show the matches of all IPTL events in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia.

     

    Sportklub chief executive officer Nemanja Simeunovic said, “We as the channel broadcasting all events of the ATP 1000 and ATP 500 series as well as all events of the WTA Premier series are excited to add this innovative event to our portfolio and very proud be the partner of the IPTL.”

     

    UFA Sports managing director Robert Müller von Vultejus commented, “We are very happy about the co-operation with Sportklub. As the channel covers the entire Balkan region and is well-known for its high-class sports content, Sportklub is an important strategic partner for the IPTL.”

     

    The IPTL is a new team tennis competition featuring the best current and former ATP and WTA players across four selected cities in Asia (Manila, Singapore, Delhi, Dubai) from 28 November to 13 December 2014. It has been founded by tennis champ Mahesh Bhupathi.

  • Micromax crowned owners of IPTL India franchise, Indian Aces

    Micromax crowned owners of IPTL India franchise, Indian Aces

    NEW DELHI:  Micromax has been named as the owner of the Indian franchise of the first Indian Premier Tennis League (IPTL). Named ‘Indian Aces’, the team will be lead by legendary player Roger Federer. Around 80 broadcasters have been confirmed around the world for reportage of the league.

     

    While a source informed indiantelevision.com that Star India was all set to cover the event in India, IPTL COO Eric M Gottschalk said that he had permission to name just one of the broadcasters which is the Abu Dhabi Sports Channel.

     

    Marquee player Roger Federer, 14-time Grand Slam Champion Pete Sampras and teammates Gael Monfils, Ana Ivanovic, Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna and Fabrice Santoro will make up the formidable Indian squad which will commence in Delhi on 6 December and conclude on 8 December. 

     

    World number two, Rafael Nadal who was representing the team, has been forced to withdraw from the League due to injury and the need for rehab time during the off season.

     

    In a televised message, Swiss ace Roger Federer said, “Namaste India! I’m really looking forward to making my first trip to New Delhi and playing for the Micromax Indian Aces. My team tells me that there are a lot of tennis fans and my supporters in the region, so I hope you can come out and support me in December. See you there!”

     

    Meanwhile IPTL founder Mahesh Bhupathi commented, “I take this opportunity to welcome Micromax to the IPTL family as owners of the India franchise. I believe the time for innovation in tennis has come. This December, New Delhi will witness tennis action like never before – one that will change the way people enjoy the sport.” 

     

    “As a tennis fan, I am excited to see Roger and Pete play for the same team, it’s unprecedented! I think Indian sports fans are in for a real treat,” Mahesh added.

     

    Talking about the association Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma said, “I would like to congratulate Mahesh on this great initiative, and we are very excited to own the India franchise in IPTL. We are delighted to have the best names from the world of tennis with Roger Federer spearheading the challenge of Indian Aces. This partnership is part of our vision to bring India to the forefront of world class sporting events. Our long term intent is to bring a transformation for sports in India by developing world-class sports infrastructure in the country to encourage more youth to take up professional sport.”

     

    Later speaking on the sidelines to indiantelevision.com, he said that Micromax would go the full 360 degrees in promoting the event, adding that with the likes of Federer and Bhupathi there was little need for any build-up.

     

    Asked about the budget, he said that would not be a problem and Micromax will go to any level for successfully managing the team and its marketing.

     

    “The IPTL is a challenging initiative taken by Bhupathi in bringing the highest level of tennis to Asia in a competitive format and it was a privilege to partner with the organizers and team owners to make this event a great success for sports fans in India,” said  Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) president Anil Khanna.

     

    In his message, Nadal said, “I am very disappointed to announce that I will not be part of the first edition of the IPTL. I was looking forward to representing Indian Aces and playing in front of fans in New Delhi in the exciting new League. I wish the team the very best and hope to be back next year.”

      

    Bhupathi said the venue had been chosen over Mumbai because it was two and half times more than the size of the tennis court available in Mumbai.

     

    The IPTL matches will feature live entertainment, a running shot clock and many more features to ’Break the Code’ of the traditional etiquette of tennis to attract a new audience to the sport across the world.

     

    The League will feature four teams in the inaugural season before adding additional franchises to the calendar with the Indian “Aces” competing against the UAE “Royals”, Manila “Mavericks” and Singapore “Slammers” for a total prize money of USD 1 million.

     

     The IPTL format has been designed in a manner that will be very attractive to broadcasters and fans. The traditional scoring format has been changed to single-set no-add scoring which will speed up the games and allow the fans to up to 24 different players in one evening while the broadcasters for the first time, will be able to schedule predictable start and finish times of each match. Each match will consist of five sets played by different players (men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and former Champions singles) and each game won counts as one point for the team points total – the team that wins the most games overall across the five sets wins the match.

  • Star India bags International Premier Tennis League rights

    Star India bags International Premier Tennis League rights

    MUMBAI: After the successful stint with Pro Kabaddi League, Star India is all set to promote tennis in the country.

     

    It is the broadcast partner for the Mahesh Bhupathi founded International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), which is a brand new team tennis format played across several countries in Asia with its first-ever edition to be held later this year.

     

    Sources confirmed to indiantelevision.com that Star India has bagged the rights for the new tennis league. “Who else could broadcast such a league?” says the source.

     

    All the matches will be produced in HD quality with IPTL graphics and commentary. The IPTL is a team tennis competition with $1 million in prize money featuring the best ATP and WTA players across selected cities in Asia from 28 November to 13 December 2014. The India franchise tennis team will compete with three teams from Philippines, Singapore and the UAE.

     

    UFA Sports is the exclusive marketer of the worldwide media rights of the IPTL.

     

     The official announcements are expected to be made in a few days.

     

  • IPTL appoints UFA Sports as marketer of worldwide media rights

    IPTL appoints UFA Sports as marketer of worldwide media rights

    MUMBAI: The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) and UFA Sports have signed an extensive cooperation agreement wherein UFA Sports will act as the exclusive marketer of the media rights of the league.

     

    IPTL and UFA Sports agreement include the media rights distribution in the respective host countries as well as worldwide rights.

     

    IPTL, a brand new team tennis format, will be played across several countries in Asia. The first-ever edition will be held later this year. From 28 November to 13 December, tennis stars and legends like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Serena Williams, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras will compete in four franchise teams in Manila, Singapore, New Delhi and Dubai.

     

    The competition will feature a total of 21 Grand Slam champions and 14 current and former world number ones with a total prize money budget of over $29 million.

     

    Founder and multiple Grand-Slam winner Mahesh Bhupathi stated: “We are pleased to announce that UFA Sports will be the exclusive marketer of the worldwide media rights of the International Premier Tennis League. UFA Sports brings wide experience and a high level of expertise which will help the IPTL reach a global audience. UFA Sports is ideally placed to promote a unique concept like IPTL and we look forward a long association.”

     

    UFA Sports managing director Stefan Felsing commented, “The International Premier Tennis League is an extremely attractive, new format in the world of tennis with the potential to revolutionise the sport. We are glad to become a part of the development and to extend the UFA Sports portfolio with a high quality product.”

     

    The four teams will play a total of 24 matches in a round-robin format to determine the inaugural IPTL League Champion. Modeled after successful international sports franchise concepts, the IPTL combines world-class sports and entertainment in a format that keeps both, spectators and TV viewers completely engrossed. All matches will be produced in HD quality with IPTL graphics and commentary.