BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... Our data gives a resounding ‘yes’. The pre-Christmas Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction fires the pistol for the start of a season which is still three months away. Truth be told, interest in the league is never far beneath the surface of India’s sporting conversation.
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... In the weeks when there’s no cricket being played out, soccer in India can be the country’s most-watched sport. Although TV audiences don’t tend to get close to the country’s favourite pastime – watching T20 cricket – it’s testament to the Indian Super League’s organisers that a competition which is only five years old can achieve such a profile.
BLOG | by Sara Eddleston ... As you may have seen, the IOC announced Airbnb as one of its TOP sponsors this week. The deal is the brand’s first foray into sports sponsorship and it will hope that the reported $500m investment will support a trajectory which has so far been pretty stratospheric.
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... A definite pecking order now seems to have been established in Indian sport, according to the data we collect every day in India as part of our SportsIndex service. As you would expect, cricket is at the top of that ranking. The percentage of Indians who have ever watched the IPL soars away at 71%. But while the IPL dominates the Indian market, it has not put other sports completely in the shade.
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... If I asked you to think of the traditional homes of distance running, I suspect you’d be pretty far down your list before you got to India. Yet in January next year, more than 45,000 runners will gather in Mumbai for Asia’s largest long-distance race – the Tata Mumbai Marathon. In short, long-distance running is growing fast in India.
BLOG | by Charlie Dundas ... As you may have read this month, sports apparel manufacturer New Balance is taking Liverpool FC to court to extend its kit deal with the club. Reports suggest that New Balance matched Nike’s offer, as they were entitled to under a clause in their current contract, only for the Reds to plough ahead with a deal with the Oregon-based manufacturer regardless. We thought we’d take a look at why New Balance is quite so keen to renew its deal with the club.
BLOG | by Victor Gras ... In the third and final of our series of NFL blogs, as the season begins we thought we’d focus on sponsors. Stadium naming rights are now a common feature of major league sports and the NFL is no different. But, with many being tied up to long-term deals, do they retain an impact on fans?
BLOG | by Lance Fraenkel ... We wrote last year about the unusually long-term sponsorships which the US Open Tennis Championship enjoys. The tournament has three Official Partners, with four brands benefiting – American Express, Emirates, Chase and JP Morgan. This year, we thought we would take a look at which of these brands was making the most of its tennis partnerships.
BLOG | by Edgar Raposo ... This week, Lufthansa announced an extension of its sponsorship deal with Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB), Germany’s national football federation.
BLOG | by Ted Harwood ... Bookmaker Paddy Power got the media talking last week over its controversial shirt sponsorship of English Football League club, Huddersfield Town FC.
