Indo-Pak tie ignites spot fee rates to Rs 30 lakh

Rupees 30 lakh for a 10-second spot and still no inventory available. That is the scenario for commercial spot values for the forthcoming India-Pakistan match in the ICC Champions Trophy.

It is not just sport when India and Pakistan play cricket. The duel defines the economics of sports. Sets new commercial parameters for the sports market. Scarcity of bilateral matches between the arch-rivals is of the defining factors, befitting the economics’ principle of demand and supply. But, bigger are the emotions of the nation, further ignited by the prevailing tension and bitterness in bilateral relations between the neighbours.

If India is playing Pakistan, the broadcasters’ reach penetrates to the territories which seldom register on cricket broadcast ratings. “Even the States that have shown less interest in this sport like Tamil Nadu, the North-eastern States with very low or no visibility for cricket also watch the game between India and Pakistan,” says Arshad Nizam Shawl, Director, Alliance Advertising and Marketing. The leading sports media buyer in the country, Arshad is among the most familiar professionals with Indian sports marketing economy.

“India-Pakistan match is a huge thing for broadcasters as it enables them to increase their on-air spot price,” adds Arshad.

India and Pakistan have met in ICC tournaments twice during the past two years, spot price has created new record. STAR has garnered 25% rise on the value of a 10-second spot for the Indo-Pak ties from the 2015 World Cup to 2016 World T-20.

There is more demand than available spots, in any left, with STAR for Sunday’s Indo-Pak tie in the Champions Trophy. No brand wants to miss the opportunity when viewers from across the country, across all age groups and categories will be hooked to the STAR Sports screens. The spots have become a rare commodity with brands ready to shell anything between Rs 27 lakh and Rs 30 lakhs for a 10-second spot.

“The best thing is that the match is on Sunday. Most people are at their homes. Netizens go crazy and social media buzz starts pre-match with trending hashtags and lot of memes. During the match every ball, wicket or a six calls for an update on social media platforms. That’s the involvement that creates and unprecedented market,” says Arshad.

Nothing sells on TV more than an India-Pakistan match, simply because nothing is watched more than the clash of emotions and patriotism. TV viewership ratings show a consistency in unprecedented growth in India-Pakistan cricket ties when compared to any other television property.

“Talking through India’s perspective, the game is not at all about winning rather it’s about defeating the opposition. Defeating Pakistan is a moment of celebration, like a festival in India,” adds Arshad.

Such is the impact of the game, that even the STAR Sport’s new Indo-Pak match promotional campaign SABSE BADA MOH is about to touch 25 lakh views in a week’s time.

For brands, this ‘moh’ of an average Indian is the biggest opportunity that sends the marketing opportunity prices soaring across all platforms.

Rooter Raises Seed Round of Funding From Intex Technologies

Rooter has raised an undisclosed amount of funds from Intex. The sports social engagement app earlier successfully raised funds from Dhruv Chitgopekar and Prantik Dasgupta along with the Bollywood star, Boman Irani, who invested in the firm as an angel investor.

Rooters plans to utilise the capital to strengthen its tech team, all the while maintaining a lean structure. It aims to also add more numbers to its Sales and Marketing team as well as to the content division. This round of funding will, in addition, help accelerate the platform’s expansion into South East Asian markets and catalyse partnerships with sports teams and leagues all around the world. Rooter’s ambition to carry out merchandising activities and possibly fan-player interactions will also get a boost besides allowing it to leverage the tech infrastructure of Intex.

Intex has had a thriving association with sports, and its director, Keshav Bansal, is the youngest franchise owner in the history of IPL. In January this year, Intex also owned the Gujarat Warriors in Super Fight League, foraying into the comparatively unknown world of MMA fighting in India.

With the approaching sports season, Rooter hopes to exceed the 50000+ downloads it currently sits on and aims to cross half a million downloads by the end of the IPL. Rooter will benefit from the technological setup of Intex, access to which can help reduce Rooter’s R&D costs. The ready database of Intex will also help Rooter to find new users.

Rooter claims that the average time spent by a user on Rooter has gone up from 2-3 minutes in September last year to 13-15 minutes currently. The number of daily active users is also growing at a brisk pace, with Rooter looking to engage more than 20,000 daily active users by the time IPL starts.More Information Please Visit my Website InsideSport

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India stays ‘Best Test team’, to pocket Rs 6.6 crore

The Indian cricket team has retained the ICC Test Championship mace and has also won a cash award of $1 million for ensuring top position in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team rankings on the annual 1 April cut-off date.

Captain Virat Kohli received the mace and cheque from ICC Cricket Hall of Famer Sunil Gavaskar at a ceremony after the fourth and final Test against Australia in Dharamsala, in which Ajinkya Rahane led the side as Kohli could not play due to a shoulder injury.

India had entered the series against Australia needing to win at least one Test to retain possession of the prestigious mace, which it had reclaimed following the Indore Test against New Zealand in October 2016.

The second and third places in the rankings will be decided after the ongoing Hamilton Test between South Africa and New Zealand. If South Africa wins or draws the Test, it will be assured of second place but a loss will see Australia finish ahead of it in second place.

The side to finish second will get $500,000 while the side finishing third will receive $200,000. The fourth-placed team, which is England, will get $100,000.

“We are absolutely delighted to have topped the ICC Test rankings. The longest format of the game really tests a team’s character and I’m proud that we have proved ourselves to be the best. Being presented with the Test championship mace last year was an exhilarating experience and the feeling is no different this time. I’d like to both congratulate and thank everyone who has been part of this success. This includes not only all the players who have been in the squad but also the team management and support staff, without whom we could not have done so well. It has not been an easy journey but all the hard work has been worth it,” said Indian captain Virat Kohli.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “On behalf of the ICC, I would like to congratulate India for achieving and maintaining number-one status amid some stiff competition, particularly from Australia and Pakistan who both held the top spot over the last year, and South Africa who have had some great Test series wins of late. The team has shown great consistency over the last 12 months, it possesses a variety of talent and is an exciting team to watch. I’m sure being recognized as the best Test nation is something that the team will really be proud of and I look forward to another year of outstanding Test cricket being played as they look to defend their position.” read more information visit my website Insidesport

PKL V: 4 new teams, 800% premium on franchisee fee

Pro Kabaddi League, Blue Eyed baby of STAR India – the principal owner of the league, is set for a revamp this season. There are more teams, more Bollywood quotient, more matches – and all coming at a premium.

InsideSport has confirmed information that the total number of teams is set to increase from the existing eight to 12. Teams from Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are set to join the eight existing franchisees – Bengal Warriors, Bengaluru Bulls, Dabang Delhi, Jaipur Pink Panthers, Patna Pirates, Puner Paltan, Telugu Titans and U Mumba. Among the four new franchisees, two of the new team owners are big names from Bollywood.

The association with the league that’s setting new bench marks for the sport industry comes at a high premium for new franchisees. The Franchisee fee, which had a base price of Rs 1 crore in Season One, is raised by up to 800% to 900% per cent. The new franchisees for Season Five have been signed for a franchisee fee of up to Rs 10 crore. Then there is players fee, team management and operations costs.

For STAR, a welcome addition to the Jaipur team owner Abhishek Bachchan, are two big guns from Cine World. Their presence, even association, is set to give a boost to ticket sales, marketing and sponsorship revenues, which are already reported to be pushing cricket on the growth charts. STAR, in another major strategic change, will run the league in one long season from July to October, as against two seasons in 2016. PKL will also set a new record in term of duration and games with 130 matches on the cards.

InsideSport has been following up with the STAR Sports PR and Kabaddi teams with all this information. A questionnaire is shared. But, they have not come on board to either confirm or deny this piece of news.

The gains are derived from sheer commercial success of PKL. In terms of absolute numbers added to the sports sponsorship pie, kabaddi has been the story of 2016, adding more numbers than cricket – yes, cricket – to the sponsorship pie. The Group M Sporting Nation in the Making Report IV, showing sponsorship research data for 2016, says something that in a year that saw the Indian Premier League build on the momentum from 2015, when India hosted the ICC World T20 for the first time, and the inaugural Tamil Nadu Premier League proved a success, it was kabaddi that was the ground sponsorship growth driver of 2016, more than Cricket..read more information click my website Insidesport

U- 17 World Cup: Kolkata to host finals; Guwahati, Mumbai get semis

With the preparations for the U17 World Cup underway and FIFA officials in the country to check different venues, the schedule and the slogan for the big event was also unveiled. The biggest announcement, however, is that Kolkata will host the Final. According to Indian Express report, The venue will be the iconic Salt Lake Stadium in a city that has traditionally been known for its football fever.

The final of the 24-team event, the first big FIFA tournament to be held in the country, will be on October 28. The two semifinals will be hosted by Guwahati and Navi Mumbai.

The big stage event is less than 200 days away and the six chosen venues are working against the time to be ready for the event with FIFA officials expressing delight with just the Navi Mumbai venue and calling it as the ‘benchmark’ to be followed.

The tournament will start in New Delhi and Navi Mumbai with the first double headers being held on October 6. The quarterfinals will be in Goa, Guwahati, Kochi and Kolkata, while Guwahati and Navi Mumbai will play host to the semi-finals. The final, as already mentioned, will be held in Kolkata.

“The FIFA U-17 World Cup is an exciting milestone for the growth of football in India and it has now reached a very important stage. The match schedule has been created following a thorough analysis of players’ health, competition format, team movements, weather, local festivities, geography and other factors. Each venue will host at least eight matches, and we took existing infrastructure into account, as well as local enthusiasm, when allotting the matches,” said Head of FIFA Tournaments, Jaime Yarza.
The draw for FIFA U-17 World Cup will take place on July 7 in Mumbai.

Carolina is La Liga brand ambassador for India

Carolina Marin – the most renowned Spanish face with Indian sports lovers is now the brand ambassador to promote Spain’s premier division soccer league – La Liga – in the country. The Olympic champion is a regular on Indian badminton circuit and spends almost month and a half in India every year to participate in international tournaments and India’s own badminton league. The 23-year-old is in Delhi for the India Open Super Series. She has already been a part of meet and greet event to promote La Liga.

La Liga had run a contest on twitter and facebook, where fans were asked to answer two simple questions about Marin and La Liga. Which Indian Player did Carolina Marin beat in the 2016 Rio Olympic badminton finals? Which is your favourite La Liga team? An opportunity to meet the Olympic champion was the award for the winner. read more Information please vistt my website InsideSport

Sindhu to energize Panasonic battery marketing globally

India’s first ever woman Olympic silver medal winner P.V. Sindhu has been appointed brand ambassador of Panasonic Energy, a manufacturer and supplier of dry cell batteries and lighting products. The company, in a statement on Monday, said Sindhu will endorse the company’s products for a period of five years, both in India as well as South East Asia markets. It declined to divulge financial details.

“P.V. Sindhu exudes power and performance through her sport. These are precisely the traits that Panasonic Batteries are known for. Not only she resonates our vision of becoming the No.1 but also possesses the right mixture of dedication, reliance and charisma which makes her the ideal choice,” said Manish Sharma, president and chief executive, Panasonic India and South Asia, in a statement. read more information please visit my website Insidesport

Did Kohli put IPL ahead of India duties?

SCENE ONE: Quinton de Kock plays for South Africa in the Hamilton Test against Black Caps when injury is fresh and hurting, but decides to skip Indian Premier League to be fully fit for his future national assignment. De Kock is ready to face the risk as his national side eyes a 2-0 series win over the hosts.

SCENE TWO: A study in contrast. From Hamilton to Dharamsala and the plot changes completely. India in a must-win situation to pocket the series, must force a draw to save the series. The big question for the hosts  on the eve of the match. Virat Kohli? Or, Virat Kohli not? The Indian captain has batted with his sore shoulder three days back at Ranchi. Will he brave the injury yet again for the cause of Team India, the best in the world. Or, won’t he? For, the commitment to his  IPL franchisee is no less important, if not more. Not just for the player, but the Board of Control of Cricket in India as well.

This has given room for raising a controversy. Gujarat Lions coach and former Australian Brad Hodge did not take long to spark one. read more information please visit my website InsideSport

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Merc to spend ₹3500 cr in pursuit of 4th title

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The most dominant team of the past three years, Mercedes AMG, will spend just over $700 million chasing a fourth straight world title this season, which starts with Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report.

Even though big budgets and huge spending cannot guarantee the title defense was evident at Albert Park in Melbourne on Sunday, when Sebastian Vettel pushed the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hemilton and Valtteri Bottas to the second and third position respectively.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has revealed the staggering spend in his guest appearance at the Australian Motor Sport Hall Of Fame induction ceremony at the Melbourne Convention Centre last week.

Formula One is undoubtedly the most expensive sport in the world, with leading teams spending Rs 2500 crore rupees or more a year chasing grand prix glory. Or more. Much more. Read more information visit my website insidesport

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