By CricketCountry Staff
ESPN Star Sports will spend Rs. 250-300 million for marketing of the upcoming Champions League Twenty20 to be played in India from September 19 to October 9, 2011.
Published: Sep 11, 2011, 08:32 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 11, 2011, 08:32 PM (IST)
The Nokia Champions League Twenty20 will be held in India from September 19 – October 9, 2011 © Getty Images
By CricketCountry Staff
Mumbai: Sep 11, 2011
ESPN Star Sports will spend Rs. 250-300 million for marketing of the upcoming Champions League Twenty20 to be played in India from September 19 to October 9, 2011.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is the face of the T20 tournament which features the best teams around the globe. The theme of the ad campaign starring SRK 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 was quoted by Indian Television webportal.
ESPN Star Sports have increased their marketing budget fourfold as compared to last year, when they used superstar Amitabh Bachchan as the league’s brand ambassador.
The tournament will be broadcasted in 174 territories and 18 languages across the world. The languages include Norwegian and Portuguese for the first time, English, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish and French.
In India, all the 29 matches of the league will be telecasted Star Cricket and Star Cricket HD, while ESPN will telecast 23 matches of the main tournament with Hindi commentary.
The commentary team for the tournament include the likes of Harsha Bhogle, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Kepler Wessels, HD Ackerman, Ian Chappell, Tom Moody, Ian Bishop and Alan Wilkins.
ESS expects to get advertising revenue of Rs 500 million. The sponsor’s list include Toshiba, Coca-Cola, Ambuja Cements, Next Retail and Digiworl.
ESPN Software India MD Aloke Malik informed that the event got a 35 percent viewership increase in the second edition.
“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,” Nokia India MD D Shivakumar said.
The title sponsor of the tournament Nokia, have announced the ‘Nokia Ke Asli Champions’ campaign giving the viewers an opportunity to showcase the ‘Asli Champions’ in them. The winners will get an opportunity to be part of Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra’s ‘Champion team’ and watch the final with her.
