Search This Blog

Showing posts with label Indian Premier League. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indian Premier League. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Shah Rukh Khan: Bollywood cricket boss takes the cheers and the jeers

Source: cnn.com

March 24, 2010

(CNN) -- Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood superstar, has become more than a little accustomed to being adored by millions.

"I don't want to be anonymous... I'm very honest about that. I love being recognized, I love people liking me, I love the fact that people scream when I go out. I think I'll miss all that when it's taken away," he told CNN.

But earlier this year comments by Khan, the owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders, caused a storm of controversy and attention he didn't want.

Watch the exclusive clip from CNN's interview, above, as Khan discusses what kind of a cricket boss he is.

Khan questioned the lack of Pakistani players in this year's competition, and Indian Hindu nationalist party Shiv Sena interpreted the comments as inflammatory. Threats were made to boycott his latest film and some activists made some threats against him and his family's safety.

"It just went onto a political agenda platform, onto an activist platform. I'm not on the same playing field. I'm an actor, I'm not a politician," he said.

"This was my point of view... it wasn't as if I was saying something new. I didn't know it would cause so much trouble, and especially when a film was releasing, you don't want that kind of trouble. It just went completely through the roof."

Khan is keen to keep his roles as an actor, cricket team boss and icon for millions as far from the political realm as possible. His face is one of the most salable in India with his image used in a raft of adverts and supporting products.

Yet his recent film "My Name is Khan" did touch upon religious sensitivities, striking a chord among cinema goers in Muslim countries across the world. In the film Khan, himself a Muslim, plays an autistic Muslim immigrant in American soon after the terrorists attack on September 11, 2001.

"I really thought the film was about humanity. It's not about Islam, it could have been about any religion to be honest," he said.

"But I simply thought we made a film about humanity. I knew it would do well but I didn't know it would this well because it is a very niche sort of a subject."

IPL hikes salary cap by $2m to $7m per team

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

NEW DELHI: The debate over removing the salary cap for players in the Indian Premier League seems to have been settled, at least for now.

IPL team owners will be able to spend up to $7 million on bidding for players at the auction to be held later this year for the next season, an increase of $2 million from the first auction.

IPL chairman Lalit Modi on Tuesday said, "Ten teams will have a purse of $70 million, which is $210 million (about Rs 1,000 crore) in three years. This will be the single largest auction in the sporting world." The three-year player contracts signed by the franchises in 2008 end with this season, so a huge number of players will be up for grabs again.

The only exceptions will be four Indian players and three foreign recruits that each team can retain.

When the first auction was held in 2008, the IPL had imposed a salary cap of $5 million per team. Another $2 million was permitted at the second auction last year and a further $750,000 was the purse available to each team at the auction this year.

After bidding Rs 1,702 crore for the Pune franchise, Sahara group chief Subrata Roy had said IPL should increase the salary cap.

"I was thinking the highest bid would be around $330 million. But I was wrong. The bid reached $370 million, which proves the event's popularity. But as far as the auction is concerned, you have to keep a reality check. That is why I have recommended a $7 million cap. Without a salary limit, it will go berserk," Modi said. The proposal still has to be approved by the IPL governing council.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

IPOs to follow IPL: 3 teams may sell stake

Source: hindustantimes.com

At least three of the 10 teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) are planning initial public offerings (IPO) or other forms of stake sales of their clubs.

Sources tracking the IPL said they expected a lot of fresh investment activity in the coming months leading up to the fresh player auction in September-October.

According to IPL rules, for first three years no owner can exit by selling its entire stake.

Investment banking sources said India Cements Ltd, which owns the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK), is likely to be the first off the block in the race to getting the club listed on stock exchanges as a separate entity.

"The management had made its intention clear to put it (CSK) separately to another company,” an analyst who had participated in an India Cements analysts’ conference said. “When it passes that first holding period of three years, it plans an IPO to realise the value.”

CSK is the only team that had achieved break-even in the first year itself. India Cements Vice chairman and managing director N Srinivasan said such reports were speculative.

“All I can say is that today it is well ensconced within India Cements,” Srinivasan, who is also the Secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said.

Kings XI Punjab, which is owned by a consortium of promoters including Ness Wadia and Preity Zinta, is also learnt to be keen on divesting if it gets the right price.

The management, however, was tight lipped. “I cannot talk about it at this moment,” its CEO Anil Srivastava said.

The Subroto Roy-promoted Sahara Adventure Sports, which stunned everybody by picking up the Pune team for a $370 million (Rs 1,702 crore) has also not ruled out the possibility of an IPO or a selling minority stake to a strategic partner.

“There are umpteen opportunities such as an IPO or selling stake to a new partner,” a Sahara India Pariwar spokesperson said.

Venugopal Dhoot whose V C Digital — which with a bid of $320 million (Rs 1,470 crore) lost out in the auction for the two new teams on Sunday — is keen to buy a minority stake in one of the existing teams.

“I am disappointed that we lost out by a small margin,” Dhoot said. “But at this point, I do not want to comment.”
Sources, however, indicated that Dhoot is keen on picking up 10 per cent stake in the newly set up Pune team.

Monday, March 22, 2010

IPL3 ratings for 8 matches in 6 metros higher than IPL2, but fall short of IPL1

March22,2010

Source: exchange4media.com

The home coming seems to be paying off for the Indian Premier League (IPL) in its third season. As per TAM data for CS 4+, for six metros from March 12-16, 2010, average ratings for IPL3 is higher than that of IPL2, even if marginal. The average ratings for the first eight matches of IPL3 stand at a TVR of 5.72 per cent, as against a TVR of 5.16 per cent as average ratings for the first eight matches of IPL2.

However, when compared to the average ratings of the first eight matches during the first edition of IPL, wherein MAX had received an impressive TVR of 6.23 per cent, IPL3 ratings have not kept up. While these may be only the initial stages of IPL3, but certainly these numbers highlight the response to the home coming season. By the end of this tournament it will be amply clear whether IPL3 has reached a saturation point or whether it has the potential of becoming India’s Super Bowl.

According to the ratings from TAM Sports of TAM Media Research for the third season, the highest ratings have been for the inaugural match of IPL3, wherein MAX received a TVR of 6.95 per cent. The second highest rating was received for the match between Deccan Chargers and Chennai Super Kings, which saw a TVR of 6.70 per cent.

Most of the matches played during the afternoon time band remained in the range of 4.5 per cent TVR, while those played in the evening received a TVR of over 5-6 per cent. For instance, the match between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore, was played on March 16 in the afternoon, received the lowest ratings of 4.20 per cent TVR.

In comparison, the inaugural match in the first edition of IPL had seen the ratings touch a TVR of 8.21 per cent, which remains the highest TVR for any IPL match till date. The opening match of IPL2 saw a TVR of 5.55 per cent.

As for the advertisers, Vodafone Essar Ltd, Samsung India Ltd, and Videocon Industries Ltd have emerged as the top three advertisers on IPL3.

What remains to be seen is whether IPL3 will continue to attract high viewership or whether the ratings will dwindle as the tournament progresses, at least until the semi-finals.

Friday, March 19, 2010

For Idea Cellular, cricket may well be a 'thumb' rule

Devina Joshi | afaqs! | Mumbai, March 19, 2010

Source: afaqs.com

It's no secret that cricket in India is wooed with fervour by scores of brands, and Idea Cellular is no exception. Idea's tryst with cricket dates back to around four years ago, with the launch of Idea Cup (the India-Sri Lanka cricket series, which now also includes Bangladesh). Next, with the Indian Premier League (IPL), Idea not only became the founding sponsor for a team - Mumbai Indians - but also, last year the brand launched an elaborate initiative to get its subscribers and cricket fans to speak and interact with the Mumbai Indians players.

In a bid to further cement its relationship with cricket, the telecom brand is now out with an initiative called 'Idea Oongli Cricket' (which is currently in association with the IPL matches), which aims at creating a long-lasting association between mobile phones and the mad frenzy for the game in the country.

"Viewers tend to sit and watch a cricket match passively," says Pradeep Shrivastava, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular. "So when we were looking at a brand engagement concept in the field of cricket, it naturally occurred to us, why not allow a mechanism which lets viewers participate in the game in their own way?"

Oongli Cricket brings cricket at the fingertips for Indians, and is open to users of mobile phones across all telecom networks. As per the initiative, during IPL matches, viewers shall be asked a question based on the happenings of the ongoing match of a particular day. These questions range from how many times will bowlers make an 'appeal' for a wicket during that match, to how many times will the batsmen change their bats during the match, or how many times shall cheerleaders 'dance' during the match. Viewers re required to 'exercise their fingers' (hence the term 'Oongli Cricket') to SMS the correct answer after the question is asked (while the match is still on).

A day later, after an audit is done, the correct answer shall be ascertained and delivered to participants via SMS. All Idea customers who send in the correct answer will get Idea VAS (value added services) packs such as cricket alerts, job alerts, news alerts etc, for three days, free of cost. 'Idea Oongli Cricket' can be played by all mobile phone users by texting their answer to '9594939291', a number that is toll-free for Idea subscribers (while standard messaging rates apply for other mobile subscribers). The aim here is not so much revenue earned by way of getting in the answers (as can be ascertained with the toll-free number concept), but to give 'gratification' to mobile users who are also fans of cricket, and create brand engagement in the process.

As can be gauged from the 'fun' nature of the questions, the initiative does not require detailed technical knowledge of the game. A total of 17 value added services have been identified to be offered as the prize. There shall be roughly one question per match.

The advertising campaign for Idea Oongli Cricket, created by Lowe Lintas India, unleashed on television before the IPL matches commenced, starting with a teaser phase comprising three commercials that had exaggerated situations where people refuse to partake in activities that may require them to engage their hands in activities apart from Oongli Cricket - for instance, one ad film had a man refusing to (in what is popularly accepted as a Bollywood cliché) cut open his thumb to fill his lover's 'maang' symbolically as a sign of marriage as he wishes to use his thumbs for Oongli Cricket SMSes instead.

This was followed by another three capsule commercials that showed fingers and thumbs 'exercising' (much like human beings do in gyms) in order to stay 'in shape' for Oongli Cricket.

The third phase was the revealer one, which is currently on air during IPL matches and has Idea's brand endorser Abhishek Bachchan cast as a 'cricket commissioner' of sorts, with two sidekicks - a girl and a peon. Bachchan, in each capsule 20-seconder ad, asks a question pertaining to the match, while his sidekicks deliver a comical demonstration of the question being asked. Some ads shall also feature other celebrities in the cricketing space.

A total of 50 commercials have been prepared for the IPL season alone, out of which around 27 ads shall feature unique questions. Says Ashwin Varkey, creative director, Lowe Lintas India, "We wanted a means to get the whole country to play the game of cricket, with Idea as an enabler. We chanced upon the word 'Oongli' as it not only represents what you use to SMS/partake in this game, but the word is also a cheeky way of saying 'play around' in Hindi."

Varkey adds that the attempt is to make Oongli Cricket almost like a tournament in itself, beyond IPL. "There are two ways we are using Oongli Cricket - as a game, which is the current form one sees it in, and as a long term brand idea, which is what we shall unleash in the future," Varkey tells afaqs!.

Based on the response Oongli Cricket gets on IPL, there is also a possibility of extending this property to the ICC World Cup coming up, as well as other cricket properties.

The campaign makes use of outdoor, radio, press and digital means to reach out to consumers. A website, www.ideaoonglicricket.com, has been formed to allow visitors to view special viral videos on the initiative, read about the various questions and answers that have appeared as a part of the campaign, win tickets to matches, and join the Idea Oongli Cricket Club.

© 2010 afaqs!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

IPL 3.0 will be the best yet claims Modi

Source: ipl-news.com

With the opening night of the Indian Premier League only a few days away IPL commissioner Lalit Modi expects this year’s tournament to be the best one yet.

The IPL is continuing its high standards with another stunning opening show featuring musical starts including Deepika Padukone, UB40, Lionel Ritchie, and Abba Revival.

"The preparations are in full swing and there are no hiccups. We all are ready to go. We have planned a very good opening night as well as opening ceremony with a spectacular laser and fireworks show" Modi said.

Away from the opening night preparations Modi was unconcerned about the Indian media boycott which is still planed to go ahead despite the National Broadcasters’ Association agreeing to new terms with the IPL

"National Broadcasters’ Association’s is a strange case. The IPL Governing Council and their representatives had a meeting two nights ago and we had agreed to allow certain amount of flexibility in their programming and amount of video footage that can be shown" said Modi.

"They agreed then but last night came back to say they needed more concessions, which the Governing Council cannot agree. The boycott continues though I would like them to cover the event but not on the new terms".

"People can see IPL action on Sony and YouTube" he added.

source - cricket20.com

Monday, March 8, 2010

IPL 2010 Schedule

Day / Dt IST GMT Team vs Team Venue

Mar-2010

Fri-12 20:00 14:30 Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders DYP - Mumbai
Sat-13 15:00 09:30 Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals Mumbai
Sat-13 20:00 14:30 Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils PCA - Mohali
Sun-14 16:00 10:30 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Eden - Kolkata
Sun-14 20:00 14:30 Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers MAC - Chennai
Mon-15 20:00 14:30 Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils Ahmedabad
Tue-16 16:00 10:30 Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kings XI Punjab MCS - Bangalore
Tue-16 20:00 14:30 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings Eden - Kolkata
Wed-17 20:00 14:30 Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians FSK - Delhi
Thu-18 20:00 14:30 Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals MCS - Bangalore
Fri-19 16:00 10:30 Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings FSK - Delhi
Fri-19 20:00 14:30 Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab Nagpur
Sat-20 16:00 10:30 Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders Ahmedabad
Sat-20 20:00 14:30 Mumbai Indians vs Bangalore Royal Challengers Mumbai
Sun-21 16:00 10:30 Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers Nagpur
Sun-21 20:00 14:30 Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab MAC - Chennai
Mon-22 20:00 14:30 Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders Mumbai
Tue-23 20:00 14:30 Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Chennai Super Kings MCS - Bangalore
Wed-24 20:00 14:30 Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals PCA - Mohali
Thu-25 20:00 14:30 Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings Mumbai
Fri-26 20:00 14:30 Rajasthan Royals vs Deccan Chargers Ahmedabad
Sat-27 16:00 10:30 Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders PCA - Mohali
Sat-27 20:00 14:30 Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Delhi Daredevils MCS - Bangalore
Sun-28 16:00 10:30 Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings Ahmedabad
Sun-28 20:00 14:30 Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians Nagpur
Mon-29 20:00 14:30 Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders FSK - Delhi
Tue-30 20:00 14:30 Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab Mumbai
Wed-31 16:00 10:30 Chennai Super Kings vs Bangalore Royal Challengers MAC - Chennai
Wed-31 20:00 14:30 Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals FSK - Delhi

Apr-2010
Thu-01 20:00 14:30 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers Eden - Kolkata
Fri-02 20:00 14:30 Kings XI Punjab vs Bangalore Royal Challengers PCA - Mohali
Sat-03 16:00 10:30 Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals MAC - Chennai
Sat-03 20:00 14:30 Mumbai Indians vs Deccan Chargers Mumbai
Sun-04 16:00 10:30 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab Eden - Kolkata
Sun-04 20:00 14:30 Delhi Daredevils vs Bangalore Royal Challengers FSK - Delhi
Mon-05 20:00 14:30 Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals DYP - Mumbai
Tue-06 20:00 14:30 Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians MAC - Chennai
Wed-07 16:00 10:30 Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab SMS - Jaipur
Wed-07 20:00 14:30 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils Eden - Kolkata
Thu-08 20:00 14:30 Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers MCS - Bangalore
Fri-09 20:00 14:30 Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians PCA - Mohali
Sat-10 16:00 10:30 Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super Kings DYP - Mumbai
Sat-10 16:00 10:30 Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders MCS - Bangalore
Sun-11 16:00 10:30 Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab FSK - Delhi
Sun-11 20:00 14:30 Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians SMS - Jaipur
Mon-12 20:00 14:30 Deccan Chargers vs Bangalore Royal Challengers DYP - Mumbai
Tue-13 16:00 10:30 Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils Mumbai
Tue-13 20:00 14:30 Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders MAC - Chennai
Wed-14 20:00 14:30 Rajasthan Royals vs Bangalore Royal Challengers SMS - Jaipur
Thu-15 20:00 14:30 Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils MAC - Chennai
Fri-16 20:00 14:30 Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers Dharmasala
Sat-17 16:00 10:30 Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Mumbai Indians MCS - Bangalore
Sat-17 20:00 14:30 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals Eden - Kolkata
Sun-18 16:00 10:30 Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings Dharmasala
Sun-18 20:00 14:30 Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers FSK - Delhi
Mon-19 20:00 14:30 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians Eden - Kolkata
Wed-21 20:00 14:30 1nd Semi-Final - Team 1 vs Team 2 MCS - Bangalore
Thu-22 20:00 14:30 2nd Semi-Final - Team 3 vs Team 4 MCS - Bangalore
Sat-24 20:00 14:30 Play-off for 3rd Place - Team A vs Team B DYP - Mumbai
Sun-25 20:00 14:30 Final of IPL 2010 - Team 1 vs Team 2 DYP - Mumbai