PepsiCo won the rights to be title sponsor of the Indian Premier League for five seasons, commencing 2013. The winning bid was for Rs 396.8 crores, followed by Airtel’s offer for Rs 315 crores.
DLF paid Rs 200 crores for rights over the first five years. The BCCI Marketing Committee met on Wednesday to open the tender for title sponsor rights. Two eligible bids were received, informed Dr Farooq Abdullah, Marketing Committee chairman. “IPL will be called Pepsi IPL for the next five years. The winning bid is almost double than what earlier sponsor was giving. DLF were giving 40 crores per year, Pepsi will be giving 79 crores per year on an average.”
Rajeev Shukla, IPL Governing Council Chairman, said: “PepsiCo is one of the largest sponsor in world sport. We look forward to working with them over the next seasons. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank DLF for its confidence in the IPL to become the league’s first title sponsor in 2008.”
Deepika Warrier, Pepsi Foods marketing head, said: “We are delighted on getting the sponsorship rights to IPL. The event is the crowning glory of cricket in India. Pepsi has got a very long association with cricket for 20 years. We have always been game changers when it comes to the sport.”
The PepsiCo spokesperson, when asked whether the sponsor overvalued the IPL, said: “We really believe in this property and feel this is a big brand that the BCCI has been able to build. It’s a brand that rivals sporting brands across the world. I think it’s an absolutely game changing format.”
She added: “The kind of viewership that the IPL gets in India and across the world is of great interest to us. The format is very entertaining and all the major international players want to play in it. The format is going to get better and we are going to take it deeper, reach out more and take it to schools.” The IPL is being telecast in over 192 countries, informed Shukla.
If only BCCI had taken half the interest they have in IPL, on Ranji
Trophy, India would be a better Cricketing nation overall. Provide
better facility for Ranji matches, including world-class pitches,
grounds and practice facilities. Many grounds don't have basic
facilities like a good seating arrangement, toilets. Hence most
matches have more people on the field than off it. Here we have BCCI
officials and soft drink company talking of IPL/Cricket "take it
deeper, reach out more and take it to schools", when they are not
bothered about nation's premier Domestic Cricket going down the drain.
Without a good/strong domestic longer format of the game, it is futile
to expect anything from our national side. May be they'll do well in
India. But we would also like to see our boys at least pose a
challenge when we are touring. Today BCCI is more about making quick
money than about improving cricketing standards in India. Money will
stop when performance (read:overall) stops.At least it should.
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