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When Mohammed Rafique netted the winner for Atlético de Kolkata in the 95th minute of the final match of the Indian Super League (ISL), he ensured the franchise pocketed the prize money of Rs 8 crore, which would help it get back a part of its expenses this year. Besides, the club will also receive a performance bonus, to be calculated on the basis of various teams’ positions on the league table.
The Kolkata franchise, co-owned by industrialists Sanjiv Goenka, Harsh Neotia, Utsav Parekh and cricketer Sourav Ganguly, was one of the league’s costliest. “Franchises like ours, along with Mumbai and Pune, were definitely more costly than others,” said an Atlético de Kolkata official. He added the franchisee had paid a premium of about 25 per cent over the average franchisee fees of Rs 15 crore.
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Besides, the team had spent Rs 3.9 crore on domestic player drafts, the highest among all franchises. It had also acquired seven international players from the central pool and signed former Barcelona and Liverpool player Luis Garcia as its marquee player. “Overall, the budget for this season was about Rs 50 crore, including promotional expenses,” said co-owner Parekh.
Typically, franchisees earn revenue from ticket sales and sponsorships. Atlético de Kolkata, with Salt Lake stadium as its home ground, had the highest seat capacity among all teams. “The attendance for each match was 35,000-40,000,” said Parekh. For the eight matches played at the stadium, the franchisee sold tickets at Rs 200, Rs 300, Rs 400, Rs 500, Rs 750, Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,500.
The winner’s tag will also help bring more lucrative sponsorship offers for the club in the coming season. For the inaugural season, the franchise’s sponsors included Aircel, Apollo Munich, Lux Cozi, SRMB TMT Bar and R P Sanjiv Goenka Group.
“The performance of a team in any sporting event is definitely a key index for its brand value. After this performance, I believe more brands will like to be associated with us,” said Parekh. All sponsorship deals are valid for a year, according to ISL’s rules.
According to sector estimates, the franchisee earned about Rs 7 crore as sponsorship fees this season.
“Having been crowned the first champions of ISL, I see the commercial value of sponsorship growing 30-35 per cent in the coming season and 45-50 per cent (of the value of the first season) through the next two-three seasons,” said Varun Mathur, general manager, Nimbus Sport, which handled the franchise’s commercial rights, including its principal sponsorship with Aircel. He added two brands had already expressed interest to partner Atlético de Kolkata for the next season. Experts feel for any team to gain brand value, on-field performance plays a major role. “By winning the inaugural edition, Atlético de Kolkata has established itself, as brands like to associate itself teams that win. Overall, too, ISL has been successful, which will help the team. If it can engage with fans more actively, it will grow bigger,” said Varun Gupta, managing director, American Appraisal, a valuation and consulting firm.
While being optimistic, the promoters are looking at a long-term investment plan. “There will be more professionalism in this business. The team will be handled like a professional business unit. We are going to appoint a chief executive officer,” said promoter Sanjiv Goenka.
