IPL 6 is not less than a celebrity when it comes to the list of sponsors. Star India is the latest brand to come on board to officially sponsor the gala event after Pepsi, Vodafone and Yes Bank.
Several Indian and multinational brands have partnered the Indian Premier League (IPL) as official partners already. The tremendous fan following of the league both on TV and packed stadiums make the event a perfect platform for advertisers. Being the biggest TV network in the country, Star India comes on board as a lucrative advertiser to leverage this wide fan base of the Pepsi Indian Premier League.
“We have no doubt that the Pepsi IPL 2013 will leave previous seasons of the tournament behind, in terms of the quality of the cricket, and popularity. The Indian Premier League is a phenomenon, which is only going to get bigger and better in the years to come. Since its inception in 2008, the tournament has provided a platform to organisations, which are as passionate about achieving and maintaining standards of excellence, as the IPL itself, to showcase themselves. STAR India belongs to this elite fraternity. We look forward to a fruitful association with them,” Rajeev Shukla, Chairman, IPL, said.
Star India said they are elated to be associated with this event in a grand way. Hopefully, there are more sponsors to be roped once the tournament gets kicked off in the less than a week’s time.
“We are happy to be associated with the IPL primarily to drive our flagship channel, Star Plus. We saw a great opportunity to use this platform to communicate our brand promise of “Rishta Wahi, Soch Nayi”. We are also very keen to deepen what is already a strong relationship with the BCCI.
The impact of Star's platform is enormous and we are keen to leverage this to support BCCI’s efforts to increase the reach and popularity of IPL,” Uday Shankar, CEO Star India said.
It now needs to be seen that how successfully all these companies would be in turning out the craze and popularity towards them. The mega event will be running for over a month giving a spectacular feast for the viewers.
The Pepsi IPL 2013 will be played from 3 April 2013 to 26 May 2013. Kolkata Knight Riders, the 2012 winners, will play the first match of the 2013 season on home turf, at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, against Delhi Daredevils, on 3 April 2013.
IPL 5 was already won by Kolkata Knight Riders under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir who has been discarded from the test team recently. There is severe competition among franchises now to clinch IPL 6 with the newest entrant being Hyderabad Sunrisers.
On an overall, there will be nine teams that will play each other twice – at home and away, in a total of 72 league matches. The top four teams, in terms of points, at the end of the league stage on Sunday, 19 May 2013, will qualify for the Playoffs. The final will be played on Sunday, 26 May 2013, at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
