New Face of IPL 3

Four matches gone by in IPL 3 and all the Four matches have ended in last over. That’s the beauty of the game and the format.

However, let’s look at what IPL 3 has brought into picture.

Youtube – Stuck @ Office and not able to catch the live action of IPL? What about watching it live in your office laptop? YouTube will broadcast all matches through a dedicated channel at youtube.com/ipl. YouTube claims that this is the first major sporting event to be streamed across the globe. Though the webcast will come with a five minute delay, it shouldn’t matter to cricket fans who can’t get access to TV. One more advertising and revenue source for IPL.

Live @ UK - ITV, the oldest television network in the United Kingdom, has been awarded the exclusive broadcasting rights for DLF-IPL III on its free-to-air service. UK is the biggest market for cricket outside India and the IPLs is making a concerted effort to reach them through ITV. Interestingly, it is for the first time since 1970s that ITV will show live cricket. Coverage will be presented by Bollywood actress and presenter Mandira Bedi.

Club Lounge - Don’t just watch cricket, savour it — that’s the Indian Premier League’s pitch this season. It has added luxury to cricket and glamour, attempting to establish a new, lucrative revenue stream: hospitality.

The IPL has launched an ambitious hospitality initiative called Club Lounge. Reported to be the brainchild of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel’s daughter Poorna Patel, the scheme offers well-to-do fans five-star hotel stays, rides in chauffeur-driven luxury sedans, and an opportunity to rub shoulders with star cricketers and the who’s who of the glamour world .

The offer comes at a hefty price — patrons will have to cough up between Rs 50,000 (for a single match) and Rs 22 lakh (for the full package of 60 games).

UFO Moviez – UFO Moviez – The world’s largest digital satellite cinema network introduced a new platform to view and enjoy cricket matches. UFO will now show the DLF IPL 2010 matches LIVE on gigantic screens in multiplexes & single theatres all across India in High Definition format without advertisments. UFO will be showing matches live in over 1,000 theatres across the country.

To make the theatre atmosphere like the stadium, there will be cheer leaders, cinema jockey and celebrities visiting theatre during the intervals. Theatres will have cricket-related merchandises, exciting gifts, multi cuisine food stalls and live bands in some places.

Sidhuism – After a long break, Mr. Navjot Sidhu (Sherry) is back with his witty gyan on all aspects of Cricket. Set Max has got him for the Xtra Innings show and Times Now has signed him for the expert commentary on their channel.

Mongoose Bat – Hayden has signed up with bat-maker Mongoose, which had developed a unique bat specially designed for T20 cricket. The bat features a bigger sweet-spot and a long handle. The Mongoose bat has a longer handle and smaller blade with a bigger sweet spot than the conventional cricket bat. It’s blade is 33 percent shorter than the regular blade and the handle is 43 percent long than the regular handle. But its quicker ‘swing’ and the `power’ with which the ball sails after connecting the sweet spot makes it a ‘lethal weapon.’.

IPL Nights – There will be an “IPL Nights” featuring “the hippest parties” and “the hottest fashion shows”, where viewers will see their “sporting heroes shake a leg or two on a different pitch altogether”. Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jessia have tied up with IPL 3 to organise parties and fashion shows after every match. That would mean a total of 55 parties and 55 fashion shows!

ICL Players Amnesty – BCCI announced an “amnesty” for all Indian players associated with the ICL, who can return to official cricket provided they cut all ties with the unofficial league.

Domestic players like Abhishek Junjunwala, Rohan Gavaskar, Reetinder Sodhi, Amit Uniyal, Hemang Badani, R Satish and Ambabati Rayadu, all off who have now terminated their contracts with the ICL are playing in this IPL. Also are foreign players like Justin Kemp & Shane Bond.

Tie-up with Colors – COLORS will launch a series of entertainment shows around IPL and IPL players that will not only play out during the 45 day IPL 2010 Season, but in the post season as well.

Colors, the current market leader in Hindi television entertainment, is creating four IPL-related shows—dance and music reality show Rockstar, the IPL Awards Night, IPL Parties on MTV and IPL Khatron Ke Khiladi.

The 13-episode Rockstar will feature winners from earlier talent hunt shows and will be judged by singers Sukhwinder Singh and Kailash Kher. Bollywood celebrities and IPL franchisee owners Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty will take turns to be the third judge, adding to the glamour quotient of the show.

Colors will also broadcast the IPL Awards Night honouring cricketers for their performance on the field.

The third show, created around glamourous after-match parties every night, will be telecast by Viacom 18’s youth entertainment channel MTV. The channel will telecast at least 40 parties and entertainment events such as fashion shows and music concerts organized for IPL franchises. Karbonn Mobiles is the sponsor for this.

IPL Khatron Ke Khiladi will feature cricketers performing stunts later in the year.

Kindness & Social Work – Bollywood actor Preity Zinta, the goodwill ambassador for UNAIDS in India, will create awareness against AIDS along with the members of her IPL team Kings XI Punjab. Kings XI Punjab will donate 25 percent of the profit they will earn from selling their merchandise to UNAIDS.

The single largest environmental awareness campaign in the Indian subcontinent, Batting for the Environment is a partnership between the IPL and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Led by UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Sachin Tendulkar, team captains from the Deccan Chargers to the Kolkata Knight Riders made a Green Pledge to save the planet at the opening ceremony

‘Mumbai Indians’ raises funds for underprivileged children. Just like American cycling legend Lance Armstrong did for cancer victims in 2004, the Mumbai Indians is selling blue silicone wristbands signed by Tendulkar and other greats from the team that say ‘Education For All’

Innovative Marketing – MRF has joined the Indian Premier League (IPL) bandwagon. It is sponsoring the Blimp in a deal worth Rs 150 million a year. The Blimp is a balloon that floats over the stadium. This is the first time that the Blimp will be a part of the IPL.

Zoo Zoo – This time, the characters in white will move out of Zoozoo land to forests, deserts and even space as they showcase Vodafone Essar’s products and services during one of the most keenly watched cricketing events of recent times. Vodafone is ready with 29 new Zoozoo adfilms executed by advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather.

Social Media - What is interesting is that the overall buzz about IPL in social media is almost twice as high in 2010 compared to last year. KKR is the most discussed team online, both in 2009 and 2010. However, Kings XI Punjab has overtaken Rajasthan Royals as the second most discussed team in social media this year, followed by Deccan Chargers.

Amongst players, Ricky Ponting is the most discussed IPL player online, both last year and in 2010. Sachin was a distant second last year but is almost neck-and-neck with Ponting this year, followed by Dhoni who is the third most discussed player by cricket fans in both years. Kevin Pietersen was fourth in 2009; however he has been overtaken by Virender Sehwag this year.



For more cricket stories, Visit http://pankajdixit.in/ - My friend Pankaj Mohan Dixit's awesome site.

My name is ENTREPRENEUR!!

8 months down the entrepreneur lane - I just wanted to share a few thoughts about business.

Business was in my blood, rather in my name. I had been thrown out of MBA interviews for my so called bania nickname "AGRAWAL", people make quick assumptions that AGRAWALs can't become MBAs or rather Agrawal MBAs don't contribute to the MBA world as they won't do job for long. Go, tell those b******s; MBA is not all about job. Its about the mindset of handling things around with a broad mindset.

The day I decided I will do business leaving my cozy KPO job @ Bangalore, I was on a verbal fight with my father - the person I have never said NO in life. But then, when it came to BUSINESS, I was on a different mode altogether. While leaving my job, I was touched by my boss' words - "Akhil, Please contact me when your company goes for an IPO".

And today, I know I am nowhere near to my GOAL, but the HOPE is alive. But then, sitting alone; I was wondering, what is the GOAL?? How do I achieve it?? What I need to do for the fulfilment of the same?? Am I on the right path??

Can you help me defining the GOAL? and suggest ways to reach for it?

(N.B. - The title of this post of the blog has nothing to do with any terrorist group and was just intended to grab eye-balls :P)