Even apart from the hype, the score is already 1-0 in th
e tight match between ICL and BCCI, in favour of ICL. On September 6th 2007, BCCI received the first shock of its crumbling monopolistic status, when the country’s anti-monopoly watchdog MRTPC initiated investigations against BCCI for bullying players, ordering the Director General of Investigation and Registration (DGIR) to probe allegations that BCCI has threatened players of life-time ban if they play for ICL. Even in 1994, BCCI had been fined by DGIR for adopting restrictive trade practices and the ghost has come back to haunt the apex cricketing body.
But the going’s not as easy for ICL either. Subhash Chandra, in the hope of breaking BCCI’s monopoly, has brought in more than 50 cricketers (from the domestic as well as international arena) and plans to kick-start his own series. However, unlike Kerry’s story, in case of Chandra, not even a single player from India’s playing eleven has switched their guard toward ICL. Chandra’s camp is full of players who are either on the verge of retirement or those who had long been waiting to get a chance to play in team India. The gargantuan task that stands ahead for Chandra is how he will recreate stars out of retired players, new kids on the block and ones who have been washed-off from spectators’ heart because of their average performance. Even more daunting questions for Chandra are: who will watch the game without the big league stars? Let’s not forget that even at the Ranji level, despite a plethora of senior members and stars, enthusiastic spectators and sponsorships are tough to come by. So without stars and viewers, will hefty sponsors bet on ICL? Chandra, who has already floated initial proposals to various media buying houses, clearly believes that they will. And media planners across the board agree whole heartedly.
“It should be
amongst the more marketable local leagues in the country with LIVE television backing it up. ICL could also drive sponsorship throughout for a brand for a particular city; not very common otherwise,” Praveen Sharma, COO, Madison Media told 4Ps B&M. He adds that ICL would provide another window of sports sponsorship opportunity to brands. When quizzed about the revenue generation plan, Kaul of Zee was non-comittal. “It is far too early to discuss revenue plans. The key challenge is to stay focused and deliver what we promise, a talent pool that will be nothing but the best,” he told 4Ps B&M.
Clearly, it will not be an elephantine task for a sharp businessman like Chandra to capitalise on the huge hype that has been created around the League. Irrespective of the absence of star players (at least to begin with), there’s no dearth of companies who will willingly shell out moolah in the name of cricket. Reportedly, for ICL’s upcoming 20-20 tournament, Airtel and Future Group have been signed up as the sponsors. And despite the price of the sponsorship being all hushed up like the ‘dead man’s chest’, the buzz in the market is that the sponsorship comes with a price tag of Rs.3 crore.
Moreover, for brands that were unable to catch the cricket inferno on the BCCI route, it will be a case of re-birth in the cricket sponsorship domain. Explains K V Shridhar, NCD, Leo Burnett, “At present, ICL poses no threat to BCCI as far as snatching sponsorship rights are concerned. But ICL is a great opportunity for cricket and advertisers.”
So yes, for now, ICL is not infringing on BCCI’s moneybags, but hey, as smaller brands (that couldn’t touch cricket or cricket players because of their sky-high prices) start aligning with ICL, rest assured that big moneyand bigger brands will follow suit, as they do in the multi-billion soccer and basketball leagues in Europe and the United States, respectively. As for Sharad Pawar and gang, the time has come for the big brother of cricket to watch his back because big marketer Chandra means big business.
Edit bureau: Siddharth Nahata, Priyanka Rajpal
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM is A World of Career
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
e tight match between ICL and BCCI, in favour of ICL. On September 6th 2007, BCCI received the first shock of its crumbling monopolistic status, when the country’s anti-monopoly watchdog MRTPC initiated investigations against BCCI for bullying players, ordering the Director General of Investigation and Registration (DGIR) to probe allegations that BCCI has threatened players of life-time ban if they play for ICL. Even in 1994, BCCI had been fined by DGIR for adopting restrictive trade practices and the ghost has come back to haunt the apex cricketing body.But the going’s not as easy for ICL either. Subhash Chandra, in the hope of breaking BCCI’s monopoly, has brought in more than 50 cricketers (from the domestic as well as international arena) and plans to kick-start his own series. However, unlike Kerry’s story, in case of Chandra, not even a single player from India’s playing eleven has switched their guard toward ICL. Chandra’s camp is full of players who are either on the verge of retirement or those who had long been waiting to get a chance to play in team India. The gargantuan task that stands ahead for Chandra is how he will recreate stars out of retired players, new kids on the block and ones who have been washed-off from spectators’ heart because of their average performance. Even more daunting questions for Chandra are: who will watch the game without the big league stars? Let’s not forget that even at the Ranji level, despite a plethora of senior members and stars, enthusiastic spectators and sponsorships are tough to come by. So without stars and viewers, will hefty sponsors bet on ICL? Chandra, who has already floated initial proposals to various media buying houses, clearly believes that they will. And media planners across the board agree whole heartedly.
“It should be
amongst the more marketable local leagues in the country with LIVE television backing it up. ICL could also drive sponsorship throughout for a brand for a particular city; not very common otherwise,” Praveen Sharma, COO, Madison Media told 4Ps B&M. He adds that ICL would provide another window of sports sponsorship opportunity to brands. When quizzed about the revenue generation plan, Kaul of Zee was non-comittal. “It is far too early to discuss revenue plans. The key challenge is to stay focused and deliver what we promise, a talent pool that will be nothing but the best,” he told 4Ps B&M.Clearly, it will not be an elephantine task for a sharp businessman like Chandra to capitalise on the huge hype that has been created around the League. Irrespective of the absence of star players (at least to begin with), there’s no dearth of companies who will willingly shell out moolah in the name of cricket. Reportedly, for ICL’s upcoming 20-20 tournament, Airtel and Future Group have been signed up as the sponsors. And despite the price of the sponsorship being all hushed up like the ‘dead man’s chest’, the buzz in the market is that the sponsorship comes with a price tag of Rs.3 crore.
Moreover, for brands that were unable to catch the cricket inferno on the BCCI route, it will be a case of re-birth in the cricket sponsorship domain. Explains K V Shridhar, NCD, Leo Burnett, “At present, ICL poses no threat to BCCI as far as snatching sponsorship rights are concerned. But ICL is a great opportunity for cricket and advertisers.”
So yes, for now, ICL is not infringing on BCCI’s moneybags, but hey, as smaller brands (that couldn’t touch cricket or cricket players because of their sky-high prices) start aligning with ICL, rest assured that big moneyand bigger brands will follow suit, as they do in the multi-billion soccer and basketball leagues in Europe and the United States, respectively. As for Sharad Pawar and gang, the time has come for the big brother of cricket to watch his back because big marketer Chandra means big business.
Edit bureau: Siddharth Nahata, Priyanka Rajpal
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM is A World of Career
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
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