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Tag: Neeta Ambani

  • Reliance to acquire franchise in South Africa’s T20 cricket league

    Reliance to acquire franchise in South Africa’s T20 cricket league

    Mumbai: In the evolving sports ecosystem, Reliance Industries is playing a crucial role by providing ownership of cricket franchises, football leagues in India, sports sponsorship, consultancy, and athlete talent management, and bringing in industry best practices. To provide a better platform, it has announced the acquisition of a franchise in Cricket South Africa’s upcoming T20 league. Based in Cape Town the new franchise will take forward the Mumbai Indians brand and comes close on the heels of acquiring the UAE-based International League T-20 team.

    Further, Reliance Foundation Sports – the CSR wing of RIL has been leading India’s olympic movement by providing opportunities to athletes across the country to become champions in multiple sports and also leading India’s charge in hosting global sporting events.

    Reliance Industries director Nita Ambani led a successful bid to host the prestigious International Olympic Committee Session in Mumbai in 2023 after a gap of 40 years.

    On this acquisition, Ambani said, “I’m delighted to welcome our new T20 team to the Reliance family! We are excited to take the Mumbai Indians’ brand of fearless and entertaining cricket to South Africa, a nation that loves cricket as much as we do in India! South Africa has a strong sporting ecosystem, and we look forward to exploring the power and potential of this collaboration. As we grow MI’s global cricketing footprint, we remain committed to spreading joy and cheer through sport!”

    Adding to it, Reliance Jio chairman Akash Ambani said, “With our South African franchise, we now have three T20 teams across three countries. We look forward to leveraging our expertise and depth of knowledge in the cricket ecosystem & brand Mumbai Indians to help build the team and provide fans with some of the best cricketing experiences.”

  • Star India rakes in over Rs 100 crore from ISL Season 2 sponsorships

    Star India rakes in over Rs 100 crore from ISL Season 2 sponsorships

    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.

  • amfAR HOLDS INAUGURAL INDIA GALA

    amfAR HOLDS INAUGURAL INDIA GALA

    MUMBAI : Some of the most distinguished figures in Indiansociety joined Sharon Stone, Hilary Swank, AbhishekBachchan, AishwaryaRaiBachchan, amfAR Chairman Kenneth Cole,amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost, and Cyrus Poonawalla, Ph.D. last night at the inaugural amfAR India gala in support of amfAR’s innovative AIDS research programs.

    The black tie event, held at The TajMahal Palace Hotel, featured a cocktail reception, dinner, and a gold-themed fashion show featuring exclusive looks by RohitBal, Abu Jani-SandeepKhosla, and TarunTahiliani with jewels by Azva, TarunTahiliani for Azva, Symetree, and Amrapali. The evening concluded with a high-energy performance by pop sensation Ke$ha, whosesongs including her hits “Animal,” “We R Who We R,” and “TikTok,” had guests dancing into the night.

    amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost invited actress and producer Hilary Swank to the stage at the exclusive event. Ms. Swank gave opening remarks and introduced amfAR Chairman Kenneth Cole, who spoke about amfAR’s global HIV/AIDS eradication initiatives and the important role of research in ending the epidemic. Bollywood luminaries AbhishekBachchan and AishwaryaRaiBachchan also addressed the more than 300 guests in attendance. In a highlight of the evening, amfAR Global Fundraising Chairman Sharon Stone took the stage and made an impassioned call to action to the many business and cultural heavyweights in the room, saying “There isn’t a family who has not been touched by AIDS.”

    Other notable guests included Neeta Ambani, Anuj Gupta, Rocky Malhotra, VenugopalDhoot, VikramChatwal, Lisa Haydon, Dimple Kapadia, Parmeshwar Godrej, NargisFakhri, SonalChauhan, Torquhil Campbell, Duke of Argyll, Dino Morea, and NanditaMahtani, among many others.
    amfAR India was made possible by Presenting Sponsor Cyrus Poonawalla, Signature Sponsors LoveGold and Delta Air Lines, Automotive Partner BMW, and Partner Chivas.