Videocon plans to rope in Abhishek Bachchan as the brand ambassador for its franchise in the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League in 2011, while Adani Group is in talks to get Salman Khan on board. These two corporations are the strongest contenders to win the bids for the two new franchises, which will open on Sunday, informed sources said.
While Videocon is bidding for Pune, Adani has its eyes glued on Ahmedabad. Apart from Pune and Ahmedabad, IPL had offered Nagpur, Kanpur, Dharamsala, Vizag, Rajkot, Cuttack, Baroda, Kochi, Indore and Gwalior as options to prospective franchises. The spokespersons for Videocon and Adani Group did not comment.
Filmstars Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgn had earlier shown interest to own a team in the 2011 season of IPL. That could not happen as a bidder needs to have a net worth of $1 billion (Rs 4,550 crore) to qualify. This is a good chance for Khan and Bachchan to get associated with the cricket carnival. Khan has endorsed brands like Chlor-Mint, Thums Up and Red Tape, while Bachchan has lent himself to Idea Cellular, Ford and Lux.
IPL, since its inception in 2008, has had its share of glamour from filmdom. Kolkata Knight Riders is owned by Shah Rukh Khan’s company Red Chillies, Preity Zinta is a co-owner of Kings XI Punjab and Shilpa Shetty, along with husband Raj Kundra, owns a stake in Rajasthan Royals. Katrina Kaif is a brand ambassador of Bangalore’s Royal Challengers.
In addition, top names from Bollywood like Bipasha Basu, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Arjun Rampal, Karisma Kapoor, Malaika Arora and Priyanka Chopra have in the past attended matches to add the entertainment quotient. Videocon and Adani Group clearly want to leave no stone unturned.
Around 15 people had picked up the “invitation to tender” forms for Rs 5 lakh each. However, most of them did not submit their bids due to stiff financing norms. ICICI Ventures, Jaypee Associates, Hero Honda and Sahara are some companies that did not submit their bids.
Two investors, apart from Adani and Videocon, who have bid are UAE’s Prince Al-Waleed, the promoter of Rotana Group, and a Pune-based consortium which has a local vaccine tycoon as a partner. Al-Waleed might find it difficult to win as all bidders are required to have some experience in sports sponsorship, said the sources.
