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Tag: Lawn tennis

  • Legendari Group ropes in Leander Paes as Global Brand Ambassador

    Legendari Group ropes in Leander Paes as Global Brand Ambassador

    MUMBAI: 17-time Grand Slam champion, tennis superstar and India’s Padma Bhushan awardee, Leander Paes has been appointed as the Global Brand Ambassador of the LegendariGoup for a period of three years (2016-2018). 

    Legendari Group’s association with Paes will commence from 2016’s first tournament on the ATP World Tour, the Chennai Open. The move is made more significant with 2016 being an Olympic year. The Legendari Group will support Paes in every step towards achieving Olympic glory as he prepares to participate in the prestigious quadrennial event for a 7th consecutive time, a record for an Indian sportsperson and in tennis internationally, and an achievement held by very few world athletes. 

    In his role as Global Brand Ambassador, Leander will be part of #TeamLEGENDARIAthlete. The Legendari Group aims to utilize the power of brand Leander asa springboard to promote tennis and other growing sports across India and Asia. 

    Founded in 2015, the Legendari Group is based in Singapore with offices in Dubai and Tokyo. It made its foray on the world map with ownership of the Japan franchise, the Legendari Japan Warriors, in the recently concluded International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) 2015. Leander was an integral player of the team that played across five venues – Japan, Philippines, India, Dubai and Singapore, along with other team-mates that included tennis superstar Maria Sharapova, Kei Nishikori, Marat Safin, Mirjana Lucic, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Kurumi Nara. 

    Unveiling his tennis jersey that will now don the Legendari Group logo, Leander Paes said, “I am thrilled to growmy partnership with the Legendari Group and work closely with them as a Global Brand Ambassador. Having been associated with the Group as part of the LegendariJapan Warriors, I am excited to associate with them to promote sports, especially tennis. It is an honour to be the first #LegendariAthlete, and I look forward to utilizing my abilities to drive the growth of sports as a way of life.”

    Legendari Group was founded by sports entrepreneur and enthusiast, Shanthan Reddy. Reddy completed his MBA in Sports Administration from Switzerland, and went on to gain immense experience in the industry working across multiple countries in Asia, Europe and America. Having worked with national and international sports federations, Reddy’s astute business sense and passion for sports, especially tennis, cricket and hockey led him to start this new business. 

    Presenting Leander the new jersey, Executive Chairman & Managing Director, Shanthan Reddy said, “Leander has inspired many generations of tennis players and sportsmen in our country, and across the world with his game. We are absolutely delighted with this opportunity, and wish him success at Rio 2016 and through the year. Sports knows no boundaries and is gender agnostic. We at the Legendari Group are committed to sports, and will continue to identify and add similar such sports initiatives to our portfolio with an aim to emerge as a global leader.”

    The Legendari Group will have Navneet Sharma at the helm of affairs. With more than 23 years in the sports, media and leisure industries, Navneet comes with rich, varied strategic and operational experience and deep-rooted relationships in the global sports and media industries. 

    Speaking at the press conference, Group Chief Executive Officer, Navneet Sharma said, “Leander is a towering sports personality in the field of tennis in India and globally. With 17 Grand Slam titles to his name, he continues to be one of the fittest players on the Tour. His indefatigable spirit is infectious, and we are delightedthat he will partnering with the Legendari Group in its global initiatives.”

    The Legendari Group has interests in tennis, cricket, hockey, football among other sports. Its vision is to create a value-based sports culture and community eco-system that will promote sports with investments in talent and facilities development. Its key areas of focus will be sports management and marketing, media rights managements, athlete management, sports entertainment and event production.

  • Usha International sponsors Dr. Bharat Ram Open Sports Meet 2013 at the Lady Shri Ram College

    Usha International sponsors Dr. Bharat Ram Open Sports Meet 2013 at the Lady Shri Ram College

    NEW DELHI: Usha International has always been committed towards encouraging young and promising sporting talents in the country. Taking forward this commitment, Usha announces the commencement of the Dr. Bharat Ram Open Sports Meet 2013, at the reputed Lady Shri Ram College, in New Delhi. This is the fourth year of Usha’s association with this event.

    This will be a three day sporting event, from 25th to 27th of October and will witness participation of over 50 colleges from the Delhi- NCR region. The aim of this festival is to promote the spirit of sportsmanship, and to spread the message of peace and goodwill through unity and team spirit.

    Lady Shri Ram College is the only ladies college in Delhi University which hosts this annual sports extravaganza for both men and women. The competition covers a wide array of sports, including Basketball, Volleyball, Table Tennis, Badminton, Judo, Chess, Athletics, Lawn tennis, Shooting, Soccer etc. The inaugural ceremony for the meet is scheduled to be conducted at 10:00 am on Friday 25th Oct- 2013.

    Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Chhaya Shriram, Director, Usha International said, “We are happy to be sponsoring and convening this annual sports meet. Dr. Bharat Ram Open Sports Meet had witnessed overwhelming success in the past and we strongly believe that this year is going to be no different. We have been continuously championing the cause of supporting and promoting diverse forms of sports and extra-curricular activities across the length and breadth of the country. Our association with LSR Annual Sports Festival is another step in encouraging promising sporting talents in the country.”

    A keen supporter of Sports for over 25 years, Usha International organizes various sporting events such as Ladies Amateur Golf Events, Junior Golf Championships and Training Programmes, Mawana Marathon and now Ultimate Flying Disc Tournament.  

  • Trai reviews ad time policy for TV channels

    Trai reviews ad time policy for TV channels

    NEW DELHI: In what can possibly upset business models of TV networks and negatively impact genres like news, movies and sports, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is reviewing the advertisement duration policy for television channels.

    The sector regulator has sought the views of stakeholders on prescribing an upper limit for the duration of advertisements on clock hour basis and defining time gaps between consecutive ad breaks during telecast of movies and other programmes.

    In a consultation paper on “Issues Related to Advertisements in TV Channels”, Trai has also sought views on different maximum limits for the duration of ads in free-to-air (FTA) and pay channels in a clock hour bais.

    The paper has been issued suo motu with the primary objective of striking a balance between giving consumers a good TV viewing experience, and protecting the interests of all the stakeholders of the television industry.

    Trai proposes to limit the duration of the ads on a clock hour basis. No FTA channel should carry ads exceeding 12 minutes in an hour. For pay channels, this limit should be six minutes, according to Trai‘s proposition for which it wants to take the views of the stakeholders before framing out its recommendations.

    The 12 minutes of ads should not be in more than 4 sessions in one hour, Trai feels. In other words, there should be continuous airing of the TV show for at least 12 minutes each. Not more than three ad breaks should be allowed during telecast of a movie with the minimum gap of 30 minutes between consecutive ad breaks.

    In case of sporting events being telecast live, the regulator feels the ads should only be carried during the interruptions in the sporting action – for example, half time in football or hockey match, lunch/ drinks break in cricket matches, game/set change in case of lawn tennis etc.

    What can adversely affect the sports genre most is that Trai is also in favour of allowing only full screen ads. In its view, part screen ads should not be permitted. Drop down ads should also not be permitted, Trai feels.

    As far as News and Current Affairs channels are concerned, they should be allowed to run not more than two scrolls at the bottom of the screen and occupying not more than 10 per cent of the screen space for carrying non-commercial scrolls, tickers etc.

    The audio level of the ads should not be higher than the audio level of the programme.

    At the outset, Trai has said that ad income contributes substantially to the overall TV revenue pie. This had led to the tendency of pushing more and more ads on pay and FTA channels.

    The increasing duration and distracting formats of ads has, however, adversely affected the consumers’ viewing experience. This has been reflected in numerous consumer complaints and opinions being expressed at various forums.

    Written comments on the issues raised in this consultation paper are invited from the stakeholders by 27 March and counter-comments by 2 April. Based on that, Trai will come out with its recommendations.