Sahara to re-consider Team India Sponsorship

[icyman]

As the name suggests, Sahara wants to reconsider the sponsorship to the Indian cricket team. A lot has to do with the acquisition of the Pune franchisee.
In fact Sahara's contract expired in Dec itself ,however they had been asked by the BCCI to carry on for a few more months,as the Board was unable to find a sponsor. Read more here

Who will be the next one ?

The last time round,they had Nestle, Coke and Sahara in close competition.

 

[pcfan123]

DLF?

 

[SaiSrini]

I wish Sahara does not continue with the sponsorship of the Indian team. Their logo looks so friggin' huge & ugly on all of the Indian kits.

 

[SciD]

Who will spend so much buck in these times?

Kingfisher.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Smart move by Sahara...


'Hey, you know we've been sponsoring the Indian Cricket Team for the best part of the last decade?'

'Yea, we've sponsored them through early World Cup exists, embarrassing losses, terrible lows...'

'Yea. But hey, now they are finally the number 1 side in Test Cricket! Things have never been better!'

'Yup. Let's dump them.'

 

[sohum]

Well, I'm sure the BCCI is trying to rake in the money with the number 1 rankings, maybe out of Sahara's budget.

 

[icyman]

Subroto Roy says its more of an emotional decision. He does not want to continue sponsoring the national team + own an IPL franchisee.

 

[pcfan123]

Well, I'm sure the BCCI is trying to rake in the money with the number 1 rankings, maybe out of Sahara's budget.

This ^

The BCCI is now a multi-billion dollar corporation now, they probably want a lot more for the naming rights. Coca-Cola would be good in my books, that or an automotive company like Toyota.

hMarka added 0 Minutes and 54 Seconds later...

Subroto Roy says its more of an emotional decision. He does not want to continue sponsoring the national team + own an IPL franchisee.

Decisions that are made at the corporate levelare not made emotionally, they are calculated, that statement is just fodder for the press.

 

[srikarr12]

FLAP I just bought the One Day Team Sahara JErsey.

 

[Cricketman]

The Sahara logo has become a part of the Indian kit now. Would be sad to see them go.

Pepsi in with a shout, sponsor a lot of our players (Sachin, Dravid, Dada in the past, Dhoni etc now). Coca Cola is nowhere near as popular is Pepsi in India.

Wouldn't want Sahara to leave though.

 

[pcfan123]

Don't Pepsi sponsor Pakistan?

 

[Cricketman]

Exactly why I don't want them to sponsor India! Would be so weird for the company to sponsor sports' biggest rivals!

I'm really surprised they chose to sponsor Pakistan too; Pepsi's CEO Indra Nooyi is our neighbor down in Chennai and she's a pretty big cricket fan...Indian cricket especially, of course!

 

[SaiSrini]

I dont mind Sahara as long as they reduce their logo size on the Indian shirts. Its so ugly! How about Reliance, Airtel, etc (the mobile companies of India)?

 

[drainpipe32]

Agree with Cricketman, the Sahara logo is stuck with the ICT in my mind from about WC 2003!

 

[rahuldravidfan]

Putting things in perspective-

1. Sahara is probably the only company which has the purse to sponsor Team India, given the fact that BCCI couldn't find another sponsor who could pay as much as Sahara!

2. Given the appreciation in the Indian teams fortunes and BCCI's valuations, I really doubt Coke, Nestle, Airtel, Pepsi or even Adidas, Nike and the likes will be able to match Sahara, let alone supercede it in the impending race for sponsorship.

3. DLF seems to be the only party which can cough up as much money as Sahara, but that would mean a threat to the IPL's sponsorship.

4. I suspect BCCI will pull out a rabbit from the hat and an unheard-of name or an MNC will be the Indian team's sponsors.

5. I think it would be a bit foolish of Sahara to give up sponsoring Team India, given the branding and PR it does for them. Having said that, no company can manage TWO 1000crore ventures with ease.

6. I think Sahara will retain their Team India sponsorship, OR their acquisition of an IPL team would serve as a "mutual understanding" between them and BCCI, meaning that they won't bid for the sponsorship but the ownership of a team would guarantee BCCI a revenue stream of atleast $37.3 million every year, from them.