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Tag: Star Sports

  • Star Sports campaign for Oz series focuses on new Team India

    MUMBAI: As the India-Australia series approaches, Star Sports has launched a full-fledged campaign, with the core theme ‘Asli Test Baaki Hai‘, to promote the India-Australia Test series which gets under way in Chennai on 22 February.

    McCann Worldwide Tag Ideation has designed the campaign for the series called as Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The television ads in the campaign have been shot by Red Ice Films.

    The campaign is based on the concept that for Indians to idolise next generation of cricketers they need to prove their mettle on field with the Test series against Australia. It highlights the fervour of budding cricketers who would not take anything lying down.

    The advent of new stars like Pujara, Ashwin, Kohli, Maxwell, Starc and Pattinson ensure that the series still remains a stern test of cricketing excellence. Hence the campaign line – ‘Asli Test Baaki Hai‘.

    Star India COO Sanjay Gupta said, “Through the BCCI season we have been focusing on a new team India with its new set of heroes. While we applaud the new talent we are also cognizant that in the future they will have to face a lot of stern tests before they can truly become world beaters. The overarching creative thought comes out from this – ‘True heroes only emerge from the toughest battles‘.”

    The sports broadcaster has also lined up an expert panel of cricketing stars for commentary as well as studio analysis on every match day in English (Star Cricket and Star Cricket HD) and Hindi (Star Sports). The commentary line-up includes legends like Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border.

    “We‘re delighted to welcome VVS Laxman on board the Star Sports commentary, presentation and analysis team. He is famous for his prolific record against the Aussies,” Gupta added.

    MWG Tag chief creative Ashish Chakravarty said, “The idea of the campaign is to highlight the increasing expectations of the viewers from the new team India. It is time for them to step up and showcase the nation that they can stand up to their expectations. In their unique and simple way, Red Ice Films translated this vision to reality.”

    Red Ice Films‘ owner and founder Gary S said, “This campaign was challenging as it was an attempt to bring out the mindset of the audience. That they need to choose the first among equals, so the trick was to communicate that without passing a judgement on any talent.”

  • Star Sports ups the glamour quotient for HIL with Akshay Kumar tie-up

    MUMBAI: Star Sports, Asia‘s leading sports broadcaster, has entered into a promotional tie-up with leading Bollywood Superstar Akshay Kumar for the first edition of Hockey India League (HIL).

    Akshay Kumar who is popularly known for his blockbuster Bollywood hits and hard hitting action roles will be promoting the league through specially crafted promotional spots. He will also use this opportunity to promote his upcoming movie ‘Special 26‘. The movie is scheduled to be released on 8 February.

    ESPN Software India MD Aloke Malik said, “We are delighted to be associated with Akshay Kumar for Hockey India League. We will leverage the India England ODI series to promote this association. Akshay will be seen in specially crafted promotional spots for HHIL which will be played during the 4th ODI while a special on-air integration is being planned for the last ODI as well.”

    Prior to the commencement of the tournament, Star Sports had unveiled former India cricketer and Member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu as the brand ambassador for the Hero Hockey India League.

    For providing viewers with a sharp, incisive and engaging view of the game both in Hindi and English language, Star Sports has put in place an illustrious panel of experts comprising former hockey players who are doing commentary on live telecast as well as pre and post-match analysis throughout the league.

    The Hindi commentary panel includes eminent former Indian Hockey players like Mir Ranjan Negi, Jugraj Singh, Deepak Thakur, Mohammed Shahid and Pargat Singh. The English commentary panel comprises of Viren Rasquinha, Cedric D‘Souza, AB Subbaiah and Sandeep Somesh.

    As official broadcasters for the HHIL, Star Sports is showcasing hockey in a completely new avatar offering a TV experience relevant to India‘s young sports audience. The channel also has HD production supported by new camera angles for sharper imagery to sustain viewer interest through the league.

    The International Hockey Federation (FIH) sanctioned ‘Hero Hockey India League‘ is a truly global league with players from as many as 11 countries. The first edition has witnessed participation from 5 teams namely Uttar Pradesh Wizards, Jaypee Punjab Warriors, Delhi Waveriders, Mumbai Magicians and Ranchi Rhinos.

  • Star Sports ropes in 3 sponsors for Hockey India League

    MUMBAI: Star Sports has roped in three sponsors including Amul, Dabur, and Tata DoCoMo for the inaugural Hockey India League (HIL).

    The sportscaster had launched a high decibel 360 degree marketing campaign to promote HHIL across various communication platforms with the core theme as ‘Ladoh Toh Aise‘ – Or “Fight Like this”. McCann Erickson India led by Prasoon Joshi and his team conceptualised the campaign.

    “We have tried to capture the aggressive and positive attitude required to fight leveraging on speed and physicality of hockey in our campaign. To make it happen, we flew in celebrated ad-film director Nick Livesey from England who has shot hockey in an iconic new way,” said ESPN Software India MD Aloke Malik.

    The sports broadcaster has roped in former India cricketer and Member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu as the brand ambassador of the league.

    The HIL will be broadcast in English and Hindi on Star Sports and Star Cricket in addition to being streamed live on YouTube.

    The league will be broadcast with Hindi commentary on Star Sports while Star Cricket will broadcast select matches of the league in English. A total of 22 matches will be broadcast in English commentary on Star Cricket.

    Star Sports will broadcast 31 matches, while two matches will be broadcast on ESPN and one match is scheduled on ESPN HD. There will also be a 30-minute highlight capsule each match day after the airing of the last match.

    Live streaming of all the matches would also be available on youtube.com/thehockeyindialeague.

    A total of 34 matches will be played across 24 match days on home and away basis across five franchisee cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Jalandhar and Ranchi. HIL. The event, kicking off this Monday, will end on 10 February.

    “As official broadcasters, we will showcase hockey in a completely new avatar. It will be a TV experience relevant to India‘s young sports audience. We will have HD production supported by new camera angles for sharper imagery. We will support the telecast with vibrant color stories to sustain viewer interest through the league. For providing our viewers with a sharp, incisive and engaging view of the game both in Hindi and English language, we have put in place an illustrious panel of experts as well,” said Malik.

    The broadcaster unveiled a panel of hockey experts and presenters who will do commentary on live telecast as well as pre and post match analysis through the league.

    The Hindi commentary panel includes eminent former Indian Hockey players like Mir Ranjan Negi, Jugraj Singh, Deepak Thakur, Mohammed Shahid and Pargat Singh. The English commentary panel comprises of Viren Rasquinha, Cedric D‘Souza, AB Subbaiah and Sandeep Somesh.

  • Hero takes title sponsorship of Hockey India League

    Hero takes title sponsorship of Hockey India League

     MUMBAI: The two-wheeler giant Hero MotoCorp signed a multi-year deal with Hockey India to take title sponsorship of its ambitious franchise-based league, Hockey India League (HIL).

     

    With this sponsorship, the tournament will be called Hero Hockey India League and underlines Hero MotoCorp’s support for the game.

     

    Hero MotoCorp was the Title Sponsor of the 2012 Olympics Qualifier Tournament – ‘Hero FIH Road to London 2012’, which was won by the Indian Men’s team, thereby securing a berth in the 2012 Olympic Games. In 2010, Hero was also the Title Sponsor of the men’s, FIH World Cup held in New Delhi.

     

    Announcing this here today, Hockey India secretary and HIL chairman Narinder Batra said, “We are delighted to have Hero MotoCorp as the Title Sponsor of the Hockey India League. Hero Group and particularly its MD & CEO Pawan Munjal have always been great well-wishers of Indian Hockey and they have supported many initiatives of Hockey India in the past few years.”

     

    Hero MotoCorp MD & CEO Pawan Munjal said, “Hockey holds a special place in our hearts and we are pleased to partner with Hockey India League. I am sure that the initiative taken by Hockey India to start this league will go a long way in developing the game and bring back its old glory.”

     

    The inaugural Hero Hockey India League will be held from 14 January to 10 February 2013 involving 120 leading players. The HIL will feature a total of 34 matches.

    ESPN Star Sports is the global broadcast rights partner for HIL till 2017.

     

    The league will involve five teams Delhi Waveriders, Jaypee Punjab Warriors, Uttar Pradesh Wizards, Mumbai Magicians and Ranchi Rhinos will compete in the inaugural season at five venues – Delhi, Jalandhar, Lucknow, Mumbai and Ranchi respectively.

  • ESPN Star Sports eyes Rs 1.6 bn ad rev from Indo-Pak series

    MUMBAI: Sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports is playing hard ball with advertisers for the blockbuster India-Pakistan series comprising 3 ODIs and two T20s.

    The sportscaster has set high ad rates for the high-profile series hoping to suck in as much ad revenue as it can. The series kicks off on 25 December.

    According to industry sources, the broadcaster is asking for Rs 800,000 per 10 second spot for the ODIs while the T20s have been priced at mind-boggling Rs 900,000-1 million.

    In comparison, the going rate for an India-England series is about Rs 275,000-300,000 per spot for ODIs and Rs 450,000 for the T20s, according to media buyers.

    An ODI match typically has 5,000-5,500 seconds of FCT, out of which each sponsor gets about 240-360 seconds. In contrast, a T20 match has 2,000-2,200 seconds wherein a sponsor gets 120-180 seconds.

    ESS is eyeing eight sponsors including two co-presenting and six associate sponsors. It has set an ambitious target of Rs 1.6 billion ad revenue from the series.

    ESPN Software India MD Aloke Malik said it has already got one sponsor on board for the series which will be held from 25 December to 6 January.

    “We are looking at two co-presenting and six associate sponsors. We have just gone to the market with it and have got one sponsor,” Malik told Indiantelevision.com without revealing the name of the sponsor.

    The steep rates have clearly not gone down well with the advertisers who are questioning the basis on which the rates have been hiked coming as it is in the wake of a subdued ad market.

    Lodestar UM COO Anamika Mehta said, “The ad rates for the series are inflated because of the hype around the series. The entry price is too steep and it‘s not really easy to spend that kind of money even on an India-Pakistan series. In any case, we had a packed cricket calendar this year.”

    While acknowledging that an India-Pakistan series will deliver high ratings compared to any other series, Mehta said the price point is too steep to take the bait. Lodestar‘s client Tata DoCoMo had signed a deal with ESS for the entire cricket season.

    “Although an India-Pakistan encounter delivers high viewership, beyond a point the ratings won‘t increase. At that price point we can as well buy other cricket properties,” Mehta reasoned.

    A top media buying executive from Mindshare questioned the justification behind the ad rate hike while conceding that an India-Pakistan series is a lucrative property to buy for any advertiser.

    “An India-Pakistan series is a premium property but it cannot be just doubled. There has to be some justification for this kind of an ad rate. A couple of our clients are interested in the series but this is not the price that we are willing to pay,” the official said requesting anonymity.

    The executive said that ESS can expect a premium of 25 to 50 per cent maximum on the prevailing prices. But anything above that is obnoxious, he added.

    A media buying executive of another agency wondered which advertiser would spend the kind of money that ESS is asking for. “The ad market is not buoyant as big spenders of cricket like telecom are not spending much. The insurance sector is dead, colas also spend mostly during summer and MNCs have already closed their yearly budgets. So the question is who has the appetite to spend this kind of money,” the executive questioned.

    The negative mood notwithstanding, the sports broadcaster remains optimistic about the prospects of the series which is happening after almost half a decade. The two countries last played a series in 2007.

    A senior ESS official asserted that the company was in the process of finalising deals and by next week it would be able stitch together a few of them.

    “The media buyers can say whatever they want to, but we are confident of achieving our targets. We are in negotiations with advertisers and will hopefully finalise few deals by next week,” the official said.

    The official said that apart from big spenders they would also have about 20-30 per cent of first time advertisers who are willing to pump in money for the big bang series.

  • ESS targets 8 sponsors for Indo-Pak series

    MUMBAI: Sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports is looking at roping in eight sponsors for the blockbuster India-Pakistan series
    comprising 3 ODIs and two T20s.

    The sportscaster has already got one sponsor on board for the series which will be held from 25 December to 6 January. “We are looking at two co-presenting and six associate sponsors. We have just gone to the market with it and have got one sponsor,” said ESPN Software India MD Aloke Malik. He, however, did not name the sponsor.

    ESS is eyeing Rs 2 billion ad revenue from the India-England series involving 4 Tests, 5 ODIs and 2 T20s. “We have sold 90 per cent of our ad inventory for the series,” said Malik, while declining to talk about the revenues.

    Meanwhile, ESS will kick off its second multimedia campaign in a couple of weeks. It will rest on the search for a new Indian hero which India’s home season will throw up. The focus of the first multimedia campaign rested on the fact that three stalwarts – Laxman, Dravid and Ganguly – are no longer a part of the team and whether India can still beat England. The theme is ‘Kya Team India Baja Payengee’.

    Malik said that the campaigns had been conceptualised based on consumer insights. “The campaign is tactical. People haven’t forgotten the drubbing that India received in England. We have shot creatives also with Shane Warne (the legend spinner inked a 3-year contract for commentary with ESS).”

    The focus of Warne’s creatives is that the viewer doesn’t want to know about his achievements or the peripheral things happening. He wants to know how the game is unfolding and why the game is changing direction. “Also the fact is that Warne has his own persona. He is fortright in his views,” Malik said.

    Warne noted that 85 per cent of India’s cricket viewers would want commentary in Hindi. “That is why it is great that they have Hindi commentary. ESPN Star Sports’ commentary team is sensational. My aim is to provide an insight into tactics and what I would do if I was in the batsman or in the captain’s shoes,” he said.

  • ESPN Star Sports targets Rs 2 bn from India-England series

    MUMBAI: Sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports (ESS) is eyeing ad revenue of Rs 2 billion from the India-England series.

    The series, involving four Tests, five ODIs and two T20s, has been billed as “revenge” series by ESS hoping to cash in on the rivalry that will help it attract more eyeballs and the moolah as well.

    Team India had faced severe drubbing when it had toured England last year. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team had to face a 4-0 whitewash in Tests while it had lost the 5-match ODI series by 3-0 by managing to tie one match. The Men in Blue had also lost the lone T20 match.

    The sports broadcaster is banking on the Indian team’s track record of doing well in home conditions to deliver good viewership.

    ESS is broadcasting the series as part of an understanding with sister concern and BCCI media rights partner Star India, which had acquired the BCCI rights for a whopping Rs 38.51 billion till 2018.

    “We have sold out ad inventory for Test matches. Now we are focussing on ODIs and T20 matches,” ESPN Software India executive vice president and head of ad sales Sanjay Kailash tells Indiantelevision.com.

    He evaded questions about ad revenue target set by the broadcaster. “We don’t share financial numbers,” Kailash said.

    However, The Exchange Principal Partner Jai Lala feels that the sportscaster will have to settle for ad revenue between Rs 1.5 to Rs 1.75 billion. “I think Rs 2 billion is too high. They should do around Rs 1.5 to 1.75 billion,” Lala said.

    Kailash feels that the Test series has done well as far as advertisement is concerned considering the fact that it comes after Diwali, a period when most of the advertisers exhaust a large chunk of their ad spends.

    “Considering that the Test series is coming after Diwali there were apprehensions as to what kind of response it will get. However, we have managed to rope in eight sponsors for the Test series,” he added.

    The eight sponsors for the Test matches include Tata DoCoMo and Havells as joint-presenting sponsors while Maruti Suzuki, Samsung, Perfetti, Nokia, ITC and Microsoft are associate sponsors.

    Out of the eight sponsors, Nokia, Havells, Maruti Suzuki and Tata DoCoMo had signed deals for the entire cricket season till the Australia series in February next year. According to a report, ESS has already mopped up Rs 2.8 billion from the four ad deals.

    Lala feels that the broadcaster’s decision to do advertising deals for the entire season has helped it de-risk itself from volatility.

    The News Corp-owned broadcaster has already sold an estimated 50-60 per cent of the inventory for the T20 and ODI matches that will take place in January after the India-Pakistan series that is scheduled to take place from 25 December to 6 January.

    The sportscaster is yet to close a deal for the upcoming India-Pakistan series, which is being sold separately and is not part of the deal done for the entire cricket season.

    “The demand for T20s and ODIs will start building up after the first week of December. We already have four on board for the entire season,” Kailash asserted.

    While Kailash refused to talk about numbers, Lala said that the sportscaster had sold ad inventory at Rs 60,000 per 10 second for Tests. For ODIs, ESS was looking at Rs 300,000 and for T20s the broadcaster was eyeing Rs 450,000.

    Kailash also emphasised that ESS wants to attract more viewers towards Test cricket. A step in that direction was the sportscaster’s decision to have a dedicated Hindi feed on Star Cricket which will run parallel to English commentary on Star Sports.

    “We want to attract more and more viewers to grow the franchise of Cricket. The idea is to broad base the sport even more and add more people to watching cricket and monetise it,” he noted.

  • ESS sells 80% of its ad inventory for T20 WC, ropes in 8 sponsors

    ESS sells 80% of its ad inventory for T20 WC, ropes in 8 sponsors

    NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports has sold 80 per cent ad inventory for the upcoming ICC Twenty20 World Cup, a top company official revealed.

    The broadcaster has signed up eight broadcast sponsors which includes Reliance Communications and Havells as joint presenting sponsor besides Tata Teleservices, Tata Motors, Pepsico, Hyundai Motors, Nokia, and Pernod Ricard as associate sponsors.

    Of the eight sponsors, four have bought sponsorship for the entire cricket season on ESS which includes the on-going India-New Zealand series and the upcoming tournaments like Champions League Twenty20, India-England and the India-Australia series.

    The broadcaster is though selling the high-profile India-Pakistan series separately since the Indian cricket board is yet to finalise the itinerary. The series is most likely to be scheduled in December in between the split tour of India-England series which will begin in November and stretch all the way till January.

    ESS is eyeing two more sponsors, one joint presenting and associate sponsor each. The sponsors will consumer 80 per cent of total ad inventory.

    It has also managed to rope in 10-12 spot buyers who will consume the remaining 20 per cent inventory.

    “We expect to close a few more within the next two weeks for a sellout. We are leveraging all platforms including the digital media,” ESPN Software India MD Aloke Malik told Indiantelevision.com on the sidelines of a press event to announce the coverage plan for the tournament.

    While Malik refused to divulge details about revenue target, sources say that ESS was eyeing Rs 2.4 billion from the T20 WC which is an almost 50 per cent jump from what it earned two years back when the event was held in West Indies.

    However, not everyone is as enthusiastic as ESS is. According to an executive from a media agency the clients this year have been a bit cautious while spending on big properties due to a gloomy economic climate.

    “I would be surprised if they earn Rs 240 crores (Rs 2.4 billion) as I don‘t think the advertisers have the same apetite for cricket this year. You should also understand properties like T20 World Cup have the risk factor attached to it since we don‘t know how India will perform,” the executive stated.

    An independent assessment would, however, be tough to calculate as ESS has done an annual deal with some of its sponsors for the cricket calendar.

    Meanwhile, ESS said that Star Sports and Star Cicket HD will showcase live in India all the 27 matches during the event from 18 September to 7 October. Anticipating a lot of interest, ESPN STAR Sports will additionally telecast the India-Pakistan warm-up match scheduled for 17 September.

    The sports broadcaster has also planned a simulcast of all India matches, semi-finals and the final with Hindi commentary on its ESPN channel. All matches of the championship will also be streamed on espnstar.com with a five minute delay.

    Malik claimed that ESS has sold the syndication rights of ICC World Twenty20 to 218 territories across the world.

    ESS has lined up a star studded panel of 18 commentators for this marquee event. ESS’s presentation will feature experts from nine of the twelve participating countries.

    In India, ESS’s presentation team will include stars like Sourav Ganguly, Sanjay Manjrekar, Nasser Hussain, Wasim Akram, Ramiz Raja, Tony Greig, Ian Chappell, Mark Waugh, Russell Arnold, Ian Bishop, Pommie Mbangwa, Damien Fleming, Simon Doull, David Lloyd, Harsha Bhogle and Alan Wilkins. ESS’s Jatin Sapru will be the in-studio host along with former English cricketer Dermot Reeve playing the role of an analyst.

    The broadcaster will use 27 cameras including super slomo and ultra slomo will be used in every match to give the best viewing experience from the three venues in Sri Lanka.

    ESS will also feature a new Touch Screen cricket presentation tool in its analysis shows around the live coverage. This will bring in a new dimension to the way the game is analysed and presented so that the fans can get a fresh perspective of the game.

  • ESPN Star Sports to earn Rs 50 mn ad rev from Wimbledon

    MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports has completely sold out on its inventory and could earn advertising revenue of Rs 50 million from the Wimbledon tournament.

    Brands like Rolex, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Malaysia Tourism Board, Perfetti, Samsung, Colgate Palmolive, Vodafone, Renault Nissan, IBM, Nokia, Reliance Netconnect, Parle Agro, Pernod Ricard (Seagram) and MetLife have bought airtime on the live telecast of the Wimbledon.

    The main pull for advertisers to associate with the event is the fact that it has a following among male SEC ABC TG.

    According to a senior media buying executive, ESS could end up with Rs 50 million from the event. The executive says that advertisers are forking out between Rs 15,000-25,000 for buying airtime on the property as Wimbledon is the biggest Tennis championship.

    The event will be covered on Star Sports and in high definition on ESPN HD, with up to 140 hours of live coverage on both the channels.

    “Tennis has been quite a popular sport among its target audience in India and Wimbledon has been one of the most followed tournaments for a long time. I think we are seeing the reflection in TV ratings as well and given the fact that it’s a two-week long tournament, played during prime time for India, it’s a viable opportunity for marketers,” says Spatial Access CEO Nikhil Rangnekar.

    Agrees VivaKi Exchange CEO Mona Jain, “Even though the hype around Wimbledon isn’t the same as it used to be before, it continues to be the biggest Tennis property. Tennis has its own following in India and offers good opportunity for brands that are looking to reach out to specific target audience.”

    Neo Sports had earned an estimated advertising revenue of Rs 45 million from the recently concluded French Open. The channel had roped in Reliance 3G, Coca-Cola, Renault, Kerala Tourism and Vinni Pharmaceuticals as broadcast sponsors.

  • ESPN Star Sports to spend Rs 300 mn to market Champions League Twenty20

    ESPN Star Sports to spend Rs 300 mn to market Champions League Twenty20

    MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS) will spend in the region of Rs 250-300 million to market the Champions League Twenty20.

    Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan will be the face of the tournament, demonstrating ESS‘ conviction to promote a property that has yet to deliver large audiences. The theme of the campaign is ‘Rajao Ke Beech Jung Abhi Bhi Baki Hai!’.

    “We are promoting the event heavily, second time in a row. The marketing budget is the same as last year,” a company official said.

    ESS had upped its marketing budget fourfold last year and used Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan as brand ambassador of Champions League Twenty20.

    ESS will showcase the tournament in 174 territories and 18 languages across the world. The languages include Norwegian and Portuguese (for the very first time), English, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish and French.

    In India, all 29 matches will be broadcast live on Star Cricket and Star Cricket HD. ESPN will carry all 23 matches of the main tournament with Hindi commentary. The cricket experts doing commentary include Harsha Bhogle, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Kepler Wessels, HD Ackerman, Ian Chappell, Tom Moody, Ian Bishop and Alan Wilkins.

    As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, ESS expects to get advertising revenue of Rs 500 million. The list of sponsors include Toshiba, Coca-Cola, Ambuja Cements, Next Retail and Digiworl. Nokia, Toshiba and Coca-Cola are also on-ground sponsors.

    ESPN Software India MD Aloke Malik said the event got a 35 per cent viewership increase in the second edition.

    Nokia, the title sponsor of Champions League Twenty20, announced the ‘Nokia Ke Asli Champions’ campaign providing the consumers an opportunity to showcase the ‘Asli Champions’ in them. Winners will get an opportunity to be part of Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra’s ‘Champion team’ and watch the finals live with her.

    Nokia India MD D Shivakumar said, “Cricket holds a special place in the hearts of Indians and we have been associated with it over the years through our association with the T20 World Cup, Kolkata Knight Riders and IPL. We are excited to be the title sponsors for Champions League T20 as it reinforces our commitment to the youth by connecting them to their passion. Shah Rukh Khan has been our brand ambassador for five years. We have been involved with the Kolkata Knight Riders for the past four years. Shah Rukh Khan got involved with the Nokia Champions League Twenty20 and so we felt that it was appropriate to also get involved.”