According to R P Singh, joint president - marketing, India Cements, "We plan to keep CSK alive even after the current IPL season. We have planned new merchandise and will build CSK online properties to keep the brand alive. The new opportunities will also work as source of revenue generation throughout the year."
The company also plans to take the T20 format further and host similar cricket tournaments at the district level.
CSK will play its last match on May 24 when India Cements plans to unveil the new merchandise in the stadium after the game.
"The current merchandise include jerseys and t-shirts which will not sell once the IPL season is over. So we will introduce new merchandise like mugs, caps, and other small items that could be used for gifting, within Rs 300 per piece. Other items will include a pack of three cricket balls signed by the three most popular cricketers of the CSK team," Singh informed.
India Cements will also push the new merchandise for corporate gifting. The merchandise will be available on online shopping portals like eBay, among other portals.
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The company also plans to make optimum use of the CSK official website.
It will first form a CSK fan club on its official website, which will be subscription-driven.
Memberships will be classified into silver, gold and platinum, for different membership fee, thereby entailing differential benefits.
The fan club would essentially tap the non-resident-Indians (NRIs) from Chennai. It will also tap the cricketers at the district level.
Membership for NRIs will range between $50 and $75, but could also be waived off in special cases like that of district-level cricketers.
"We have not finalised the membership fee yet," Singh added.
"Infact, we plan to take the T20 format further and plan to host similar cricket tournaments at the district level. We will go to schools and varous cricket clubs for the prelims," Singh informed.
"So far, we have been able to collect close to Rs 2 crore per match, on an average. The tickets are priced between Rs 250 and Rs 5,000," Singh said.
The stadium in Chennai can accommodate close to 40,000 spectators.
India Cements bought Chennai Superkings for $91 million.
Its expenses for the current year include Rs 36 crore franchise fee, Rs 24 crore for the team, Rs 7 crore for advertising, and Rs 6 crore administration fee.
Its revenues include Rs 20 crore from Set Max, Rs 15 crore from central sponsorships, Rs 15 crore from main sponsor, Rs 10 crore from co-sponsors, and about Rs 12.8 crore from gate receipts.
So, CSK is expected to earn close to Rs 72.8 crore in the first year, while its spends are expected to amount to Rs 73 crore, thereby making a loss of Rs 0.2 crore in the first year and breaking even in the second.