Brands including Nokia, Pepsi, LG and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) are competing for the title sponsorship rights for cricket’s Champions League Twenty20 competition.
According to Indian press reports the brands, as well as corporate giants Videocon, Vodafone and other domestic brands are also expected to contest for various sponsorship rights. The tournament which will be played in India between December 3 and 10 and represents three cricket boards - the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa, has already been tagged as the highest value cricket tournament on a per game basis.
During the official launch of the tournament and unveiling of the logo, Manu Sawhney, managing director, ESPN Star Sports, which has acquired the media and marketing rights of a tournament for around $975 million said: “Since we hold all commercial rights for the tournament, we can sell tailor-made packages to advertisers depending on their need. We are already in talks with five to six brands in categories including, telecom, mobile handset, beverage and white goods, for the title sponsorship,” he added, but declined to divulge the names of sponsors.
The different categories of sponsorships that the company will sell are title sponsorship, on-air, ground sponsorship, umpire sponsorship and merchandise. The individual team sponsors remain unchanged.
