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Tag: Kerala Blasters FC

  • Indian Super League 2022-2023: Ather Energy announces Kerala Blasters FC as their digital partner

    Indian Super League 2022-2023: Ather Energy announces Kerala Blasters FC as their digital partner

    Mumbai: E-scooter manufacturer, Ather Energy, has joined the Kerala Blaster Football Club (KBFC) as their digital partner for the team. This will be Ather Energy’s third consecutive year of partnership with the finalists from last season.

    Commenting on the association, Ather Energy chief business officer Ravneet Singh Phokela said  “We are delighted to continue our support with KBFC for the third year in a row. The trajectory of KBFC in this tournament parallels our own in the EV business. KBFC has established itself as one of the country’s most enthusiastic clubs and a finalist in the 2021 season. Similarly, Ather has developed strong salience in Kerala over the last year, becoming the market’s biggest EV player. Our association with KBFC has helped us to drive awareness and familiarity for our brand in Kerala and also across the country, as we continue to expand our footprint. We are hopeful that with this partnership we will be able to showcase our scooters to a larger audience and accelerate the adoption of EVs across the country.” 

    “We are excited to extend our partnership with Ather. They have been at the forefront of India’s transition to electric vehicles, and the club looks forward to helping this transformation continue and driving awareness about sustainable development,” said Kerala Blasters FC director Nikhil Bhardwaj.

    Kerala was one of the first markets in India to adopt EVs and has the highest scooter penetration in India. The acceptance of EVs continues to be at an all-time high. With experience centres across nine major locations (Kochi, Calicut, Trivandrum, Kannur, Palakkad, Thrissur, Kollam, Malappuram & Tirur) and 5,000+ vehicles on the road, Ather is the leading electric vehicle brand in Kerala now. The company has also installed 45+ fast-charging points on the Ather Grid across Kerala, speeding up the EV infrastructure. By the end of the year, Ather Energy plans to expand its presence in Kerala to more cities. The number of test ride requests for the gen3 Ather 450X has risen exponentially across the state in recent months. This association will increase brand awareness in Kerala as well as among the football followers across the country.

    This partnership was enabled and supported by RISE Worldwide, a Reliance initiative and India’s largest sports and entertainment company.

  • Hero Indian Super League 2019-20 doubles viewership for the Opening Game this season

    Hero Indian Super League 2019-20 doubles viewership for the Opening Game this season

    MUMBAI: India’s premier football league – Hero Indian Super League (ISL) Season 6, had a spectacular star studded opening in Kochi on October 20th, 2019. The season opener between arch rivals Kerala Blasters FC and ATK registered 1.2 TVR and 96%** growth in TV ratings among M15+AB Urban and an impressive 97% viewership growth on Hotstar over last season. The two teams have a long history and have met previously in two finals – 2014 and 2016, both of which were won by ATK. Kochi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was a sea of yellow and the home side gave its fans a lot to celebrate by winning the highly contested game 2-1 and setting a standard for the ongoing season. The fans also witnessed high octane performances by Bollywood Superstars Tiger Shroff and Disha Patani who grooved to their superhit tracks and joined in the celebrations.

    There has been a consistent rise in the fan following for Indian football in the country and the Hero ISL, the premier football league of India, has been at the heart of this revolution getting bigger and better with each passing year. A seven month wait ended with the highly anticipated season opener that had fans glued to their TV & mobile screens which was broadcast in 7 languages and 20 channels. This season with the inclusion of the two new teams, Hyderabad FC and Odisha FC, the Hero ISL will see more diverse fan cultures and an increase in the footprint of Indian football in new frontiers.

    Opening with a flying start, the Hero Indian Super League, will be bigger and better than ever before, with more audiences expected to tune-in to catch their favourite team battle for the championship and coveted AFC Champions League play-offs spot.

    Fans can catch all the football action in the Hero Indian Super League Season 6 on the Star Sports Network, Hotstar and Jio TV

  • Hero ISL S4 opening game saw 59% viewership growth

    Hero ISL S4 opening game saw 59% viewership growth

    MUMBAI: The opening match of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) season 4, ATK and Kerala Blasters FC, got 25 million total TV impressions with a 59 per cent growth in viewership over last year’s first game, as per data shared by the broadcaster.

    The stadium was packed to the brim. The game recorded 7.4 million average impressions, which is double the India vs USA opening game at U-17 FIFA World Cup 2017.

    Star India MD Sanjay Gupta said, “We are thrilled with the response that The Hero Indian Super League is getting from football fans across India. The growth demonstrated is across urban, rural and digital audiences which indeed proves that Future Hai Football! We are looking forward to having an exhilarating journey on this biggest ever season of the league.”

    ISL Season 4 began on 17 November, and can be watched live on Star Sports network and Hotstar. A total of 95 matches will be played in the 2017-18 season between 10 teams. The season will be held over 17 weeks since two new teams have been added. The two-legged semi-finals of the ISL league are scheduled to take place in the second week of March 2018

     

  • Mumbai City FC’s sponsorship amount up by 50 %

    Mumbai City FC’s sponsorship amount up by 50 %

    MUMBAI: The fourth edition of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) is all set to kick-off in a day. From this year, ISL has moved from a three-month season to five months.

    Last year’s semi-finalist Mumbai City FC has upped the ante on its marketing and sponsorship this year. Talking to Indiantelevision.com Mumbai City FC CEO Indranil Das Blah says, “Sponsorship has been significantly better than the last three seasons. We sold our entire inventory and the sponsorship amounts have been increased by 50 per cent compared to last year. Mumbai City FC has added a whole bunch of new sponsors this season.”

    A close industry source informed Indiantelevision.com that the teams in the smaller markets have a sponsorship range of Rs 50-60 million and the teams in big markets including Kerala, Chennai, Goa, Mumbai and Kolkata have a sponsorship range of Rs 120-150 million.

    The title sponsor for Mumbai City FC is Ace Group since three years, back sponsor is Spicejet and on the right chest the jersey has OkSir, one of Indias advanced app-based service aggregators. The team is expecting to close four other sponsors. It is planning to increase sponsor list through licensing deals that will not be on the jerseys.

    Mumbai City FC is planning to go with outdoor and digital marketing this season. “We are concentrating a lot on digital marketing because our young audience spends more time on internet than on TV. For football, digital will be of paramount importance.  Our marketing is not focused towards generating revenue but to improve the Mumbai City FC brand,” says Blah.

    Globally, merchandising plays an important role in contributing to revenue. A report by Transparency Market research pegs the global licensed sports merchandise market to rise at a 6.2 per cent CAGR from 217-2025. It will hit a value of $49.6 billion by then from $29.26 in 2016. But the Indian market is yet to involve and overcome barriers like price sensitivity and piracy.

    This season, the team will increase fan engagement activities. Despite Mumbai’s propensity to pay more, the stadium tickets have been kept affordable so that students and children can come to watch the games. This season, Mumbai FC has launched a loyalty programme too. This apart, meet and greet with team members, contests and access to training sessions are on the anvil.

    The state of Indian sports being cricket-centric five years ago has today paved way for many others. “Today we can see more non-cricketing events doing well like football and kabaddi. Badminton, as a sport, is growing. Brands, sponsors, people in the federation and fans understand the development of the ecosystem. Globally, Brazil and India are the only two developed markets with one sport focus, football and cricket respectively,” says Blah.

    This year’s ISL has 10 teams with the first game between Kerala Blasters FC and defending champions Atletico de Kolkata, which is now called just ATK.  The latter surprisingly has no major sponsor.

    Bengaluru FC, Jamshedpur FC and Goa FC club ownerships are backed by their own business entities. Jamshedpur FC is backed by Tata Steel (title sponsors), Tata Trust and Tata Motors. Bengaluru FC owners JSW have yet again retained the title, with Puma being the main associate. FC Goa is backed by Deltin Hotels, Goa. The hospitality group sponsorship brand owner Jaidev Mukund Modi is a 65 per cent stakeholder in the club.

     

  • Oxigen Wallet to sponsor Sachin Tendulkar’s ISL team Kerala Blasters FC

    Oxigen Wallet to sponsor Sachin Tendulkar’s ISL team Kerala Blasters FC

    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.”

  • Team Pune to kick start Hero ISL domestic player draft

    Team Pune to kick start Hero ISL domestic player draft

    MUMBAI: The Hero Indian Super League (ISL), on 21 July, conducted its ‘Clubs Sequence Selection’, based on which the central domestic player draft will be organised on 22 July and 23 July.

     

    IMG football vice president global business development Jefferson Slack was entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the selection through a lot pick in presence of all the Hero ISL club representatives.

     

    Among the six participating teams, Team Pune will be the first club to make its best player selection from the list of 84 Indian talents.

     

    Pune will be followed by Mumbai City FC, Kerala Blasters FC, Team Bengaluru, Atletico de Kolkata and Delhi Dynamos FC, in order. The seventh and eighth teams participating in the draft will be team Goa and NorthEast United FC. These two teams have retained their set of 14 domestic players from their respective I-League tie-ups Dempo sports club with Goa and Shillong Lajong football club with NorthEast United FC. Pre selected players will be announced as the draft progresses.

     

    The central player pool (CPL) proceedings will commence at 10 am on both the days, with each day featuring seven rounds of the draft.

     

    The league, co-promoted by IMG-Reliance and Star India and supported by All India Football Federation (AIFF), will have 84 Indian footballers in the central domestic player pool. The league has made provision of additional seven players in the central reserve pool to serve as replacement in case of injuries or other emergencies. 

     

    The CPL features a mix of seasoned, experienced senior national players and promising young talents from across the country. A total of 39 players have represented India at senior level and 22 of them are or have been a part of the national team set-up in the past two years.

     

    ISL through a statement said, “The central player pool boasts of a combined 750 plus national team caps, proving the imperative experience at international level. In addition, 75 players have played a major role in their respective I-League teams in the past three years, with 29 of them leading their clubs to top three finishes. Emphasis has also been given to promote young players and to provide them with required experience through Hero ISL with 17 signed players in the under-23 year age category. Two players also vaunt of playing on international soil for various clubs.”

     

    In terms of playing positions, the Hero Indian Super League has 27 attackers (forwards and wingers), 21 midfielders, 26 defenders and 10 goalkeepers. The pool includes 30 players on loan from four I -League clubs, as well as Free Agents who have been centrally contracted.