Dubai-based
airline Emirates will be the principal sponsor for Deccan Chargers, a
unit of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited that owns the IPL franchise
from Hyderabad, for the forthcoming season starting April 7.
The three-year
team sponsorship agreement with Deccan Chargers, the second for Emirates
in IPL with the previous one being with Kings XI Punjab, will bring
into its fold rights and entitlements to display their official logo on
platforms that include the Hyderabad side's apparel, in-stadia branding,
for premium hospitality and match tickets, official merchandise and
access to the franchise's players.
Sports sponsorships have always been a very successful marketing tool
for Emirates. With cricket being the number one sport in India, it is a
natural choice for us to go for it," Orhan Abbas, vice-president (India
and Nepal), Emirates, told Business Standard.
Besides IPL,
Emirates' sponsorship portfolio spans across various sports disciplines
including golf, horse races and football (Fifa World Cup).
The airline, which
spends one per cent of its annual revenues on sports sponsorships, also
owns Emirates Stadium, an association football stadium in London, which
is the current home of Arsenal Football Club.
"More than
branding opportunities, the partnership with Deccan Chargers will allow
us to directly go to our customers and show them that we are investing
back into this country, too," Abbas said.
Earlier,
addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Deccan Chargers' chief
operating officer Venkat Reddy said the team had gone through difficult
commercial conditions last year, in terms of signing up team sponsors,
because of the ICC World Cup.
Deccan Chargers,
which emerged as the winner of the 2009 season of the IPL, had a bad
start last year, losing all the matches played at their home ground.
"We are fully
charged up for this season. Last year, we had 85 per cent capacity for
all our matches. We expect our matches at Cuttack, Vizag and Hyderabad
to be fully-packed this season," he said.
Replying to a
query on whether the company's plans to sell stake in the franchise are
still afloat, Reddy replied in the negative. "The team was never put on
for sale at all. It will continue to be part of Deccan Chronicle," he
added.
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