Amid controversies surrounding shareholding issues and a termination notice from the BCCI, the spirit of Kings XI Punjab hasn‘t dampened. The Indian Premier League franchise expects to break-even this year as it targets a 15–20 per cent increase from all revenue channels.
Though the drama off the field and the court proceedings caused damage to the brand, Kings XI Punjab has fought back and managed to retain four of its existing sponsors.
In an interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Ashwin Pinto, Kings XI Punjab co-owner Mohit Burman talks about the hard times the franchise had to go through while staying on course to turn profitable.
Excerpts: |
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The BCCI had terminated its IPL contract with Kings XI Punjab and now the team is back. What is the current relationship with the BCCI? |
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What was the argument that you made in court over the BCCI‘s abrupt termination? |
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Amid all the controversies including the one for overseas broadcast rights, are you concerned that the IPL‘s brand value might take a hit? |
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Does the BCCI need to adopt a more inclusive approach and involve franchises when it takes big decisions? |
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There are now 74 matches as opposed to 94 envisioned earlier. What impact will this have on your revenue? |
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Some feel that the BCCI should not have added two new franchises. Do you agree?
Yuvraj and Mahela are match winners in their own right and we did try to bring both of them back into our team. But after a point, the costs for individual players affect the composition of the team. At the end of the day, one has to formulate a team vis a vis spending the bulk of our purse on individual players. We have added 12 uncapped players including Nitin Saini, Sunny Singh, Siddharth Chitnis and Paul Valthaty. |
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How would you describe the progress that Kings XI Punjab has made over the past three seasons of the IPL? |
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What have the key learnings been?
From a brand perspective, IPL team fans were initially excited about the cricket stars in each team. However with our efforts over the last few years and even going forward, we are trying to position Kings XI Punjab as the prime product and have the fans support the team rather than the stars in it.
Over the last three seasons, we have had partners who have stood by us and believed in brand Kings XI Punjab. For the coming season, we have renewed four of our partners (Emirates is the Title sponsor while Reebok is the Official Apparel Partner, USL is Official Games for Challenge Partner and Wrigley is the Official Chewing Gum) as we believe that long term associations is where the value in sport sponsorship lies. |
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How hard has it been to get the sponsors on board after all the controversies Kings XI Punjab went through?
However, the fact that four of our existing sponsors have signed again with us should indicate the trust and faith that sponsors have in us as a franchise and the value that they see in associating with us. You shall soon hear of many more sponsors coming on board with us for the coming seasons. |
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Is it just money that you are looking for or are there other parameters? |
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What revenue growth are you eyeing this year? |
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Two new franchises means more clutter for advertisers. How do you see things playing out in terms of brand recall?
It is also very important to realise that sponsors come into the IPL market with their own set of objectives and plans. Some brands use this platform just as a branding exercise while others rely on activities around the team and players.
The TRPs of the IPL in the past three years have been more than impressive as it is the biggest sporting property in the country. |
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What initiatives are you planning for to build fan connect this year?
Fans can win tickets, merchandise and also get to meet and train with the team. You will see all this happening in the lead time to the season and even during the off season. |
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In the past you have been careful about marketing expenses due to the economic climate. Will these expenses be reduced further this year?
We have budgeted for what is required to meet our marketing objectives. |
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What strategy are you looking at to build the licensing and merchandising side of the business?
While we have licensed our team kit to Reebok, we have also identified other partners for sole merchandising. We have signed up a specialist partner who shall represent us in the licensing space. We shall be making announcements about the same in the days to come. |
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Is Kings XI Punjab looking for a CEO?
We are not looking for a CEO. Arvinder Singh heads the management team as the COO. |
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Are you interested in being involved in other sports?
We have always said that we are a community-driven team and one of our core objectives is to give back to sports. Hence, as and when feasible and excitable projects come along, we shall take a call at that time. |
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