The FIDE World Championship Match 2013 has possibly scored the highest viewership, readership and sponsorship for chess.
Up to round eight of the match between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand, FIDE estimates between 200 mn and 500 mn viewers (100-200 mn on TV and the rest on print and internet). FIDE said it was difficult to evaluate the numbers with precision due to the vastness of the coverage and the worldwide distribution.
According to Microsense, a company focused on wireless, connectivity, networking and internet services, the sixth match was watched by close to two mn internet users, live, across continents. The Chennai-based Microsense is the official WiFi and internet service provider for the championship tournament.
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Tamil Nadu government sponsorship share: Rs 29 crore (for prize money and other expenses) Five co-sponsors together: Rs 2.5 crore Prize money: around Rs 16 crore FIDE fee: Rs 4.8 crore Advertisements by TN govt: around Rs 3 crore (in around 20 national and regional dailies) TV Rights: Rs 3 crore (paid by Doordarshan) Other rights sold to YouTube, and application providers for Android and iOS by the federation |
"One number we can cite with certainty is the TV coverage - more than 100 mn people are following the match every day in India and Norway on TV. An additional estimated 100 mn have been reached through TV news reports around the world," said the federation, which agreed to host the match in this city after the Tamil Nadu government agreed to support the event. The state government said it had allocated Rs 29 crore for bringing the championship here.
The prize amount is $2.55 mn or around Rs 16 crore, of which 60 per cent and a 15-sovereign gold medal will go to the winner; the other player will get the remaining money and a 10-sovereign silver medal. An additional cost is the fee to be paid to FIDE, 30 per cent of the prize money.
The major sponsors include Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Indian Bank, Indian Oil Corporation, Tamil Nadu Newsprint Ltd, United India and others. The sponsorship amount is estimated to be around Rs 50 lakh each. IOB's chairman, M Narendra, said a key reasons for the bank to associate itself with the event was to take their brand to young chess enthusiasts, which he says has been largely achieved, thanks to the amount of people who watched the game through television, internet and mobiles. His other reason: "The match is happening in Chennai, Anand is from Chennai and the bank is also from Chennai."
According to FIDE, numbers reported by Doordarshan range between 75 mn and 105 mn a day. DD Sports has the exclusive global telecasting rights and has resold the signal and highlights to multiple TV channels, of which little statistics are available. According to sources, Doordarshan paid Rs 3 crore for the global telecast rights. It got into an agreement with Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation to telecast the match there, exclusively, for Rs 1.5 crore.
The fact that a four-time FIDE world champion and legend in India is playing against an emerging young talent from the western world who broke all records before the age of 22 has put a high stamp - a clash of generations, youth versus experience, a battle of the worlds, east versus west, a clash of styles, traditional versus computer-era chess, for chess lovers.
Arvind Arora, who handles media relations for the tournament, from the All-India Chess Federation, said the average footfall at the Hyatt Regency venue has been 700, while the seating capacity was around 400. "Lots of school students have shown an interest in watching the game live."
He said many preferred to stand and watch the game.
He noted there were around 35,000 FIDE-rated players in India, of which a third (around 11,500) are from Tamil Nadu, of which 80 per cent are from Chennai.
DD Rights
According to sources, Doordarshan has paid Rs 3 crore for the global telecast rights. In turn, it has got into an agreement with Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation to telecast the match there, exclusively, for Rs 1.5 crore.
While DD Sports telecast the match live, without any advertisement breaks, sources said DD National at 8 am daily had broadcast the highlights and 360 seconds during this time went on ads. Doordarshan reaches 48 countries. As the ad rate in DD is around Rs 50,000 for 10 seconds, the government-owned broadcaster would be making around Rs 18 lakh a day or Rs 1.8 crore in the past 10 days.
The national broadcaster has also sold the rights to Sweden and two firms in Germany, said a source.
