Ten Cricket pads up for India-Sri Lanka series

Saturday, 16 June 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

New Delhi: Ten Cricket is gearing up for the upcoming India-Sri Lanka cricket series that is slated to begin from 22 July.

The company has already roped in handset maker Micromax as the title sponsor and the series will be called the Micromax Cup.

The other key on-ground sponsor is Royal Stag cricket gear.

For the on-air sponsorships, the company has roped in PC maker Lenovo and liquor brand Seagram. The channel has both the on-ground and the on-air sponsorship rights for this series.

Industry sources said that the broadcaster could earn an estimated Rs. 50-55 crore as revenue as it’s a short series. The broadcaster is learnt to have priced the advertising spots on ODI matches about 20 per cent lower than the IPL matches.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) Chief Sales Officer Ashish Sehgal said, “We have received a very good response from advertisers for the series.

We are already in talks and about to close deals with four additional sponsors.” He refused to comment on advertising revenues.

The series will feature five one-day matches and one T20 match.

Mr Sehgal said there is a lot of viewer’s interest in the series, since it’s the first after the IPL. “The time of broadcast is in sync with prime time viewing with the matches being in Sri Lanka and three of the matches will take place during weekends,” he said.

The Micromax Cup will be shown on Ten Cricket and Ten HD.

With this being the only cricket series in July, media planners believe it is already evincing interest from advertisers.

“Brands have the opportunity to leverage on India-Sri Lanka cricket series to support their marketing activities and campaigns during this period,” said media buying firm VivaKi Exchange CEO Mona Jain.

Micromax Head-marketing Pratik Seal, said, “We have always associated with music, movies and cricket to engage with our consumers and becoming the title sponsor of the India-Sri Lanka series is part of that strategy.” He added that cricket continues to deliver for the advertisers. (The Hindu)