 "Rajasthan Royals")
Rajasthan Royals (RR) spent almost two years in the eye of a match-fixing and betting storm. While the final verdict is yet to be received, the dust has started settling. The RR team is looking at reviving its sponsorship quotient and business prospects.
Having retained 11 of its sponsors from last year, the team will start its IPL 2015 campaign with 14 brands.
RR, which won the first IPL tournament in 2008 as an underdog, is seeing around 10 per cent increase in sponsorship revenues this year.
The lead sponsors (logo placed on the front of the jersey), Ultratech, continues its association, as do Rupa, Kingfisher, Lawman and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
While other franchises like Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) also expect a 10-12 per cent increase in sponsorship revenues, the difference with RR is the base on which the growth is logged. MI and KKR are among the top-paid in the league, while RR has not been able to capitalise on its first-season win.
Raghu Iyer, CEO, RR, says, "It's been a tough two-year run. We have been in the thick of a controversy and so, our performance in terms of sponsorships, has been affected. However, through all of this, we had brands like UltraTech and TCS stick with us and this has helped. This year, we have three new sponsors in Spice mobiles, CP Plus, a security agency and Kalasalingam University."
Regional spin
Besides its long-standing sponsors, RR has gone after smaller or regional advertisers in its comeback strategy. That the tournament is back on the Indian soil has also helped stoke sponsors' interest.
An industry professional dealing in sports sponsorships, says, "This year, the situation is less ambiguous. The controversial teams are sure to be allowed to play and the entire tournament is taking place in India completely this year. This has helped RR recover somewhat from the troubles of last year. The team has been smart in approaching brands that are fairly new or are targeting a younger set. These brands, which are in their recall/awareness-building phase, would like to invest in cricket and the rates of RR are not as high as some of the other teams."
CP Plus is a brand of security equipment like cameras, while Kalasalingam University is a regional private university.
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- For physical retail, it will put up kiosks and stands at the match venues and the hotels where the players will be staying to connect with fans and sell its merchandise.
Getting such first-time sponsors has helped RR secure a premium over its previous years' deals. The new sponsors are said to have paid a premium of 10-15 per cent.
"The credibility of any potential advertising or sponsorship platform is crucial. With team owners coming under scrutiny, the team was bound to suffer. However, the image of people like Rahul Dravid on the team's management has helped retain some credibility with the sponsors," says another sports manager who handles sponsorships for players and some teams.
Crucial year
Iyer of RR feels that this year will make all the difference. "The tournament will be held completely in India for the first time since the controversy broke out in 2013. We will get a better idea about the response to the team and the tournament as it gets under way. While in the Indian sports context, the IPL is a fairly mature property, in the global context, it's still not so. Moreover, cricket provides reach like no other sport," he says.
The total sponsorships of RR this year is pegged by industry estimates at Rs 50 crore.
Apart from sponsorships, the team is also banking on licensing and merchandising as a revenue source, no matter how small. As a result, it has put in some thought in cost-effective means of distribution of its merchandise (see box).
Most of the IPL teams are taking baby steps in increasing their earning from licensed products.
