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With just two weeks to go for the Indian Super League’s (ISL) second edition to begin, sponsors from across the country have expressed their interest to be a part of the footballing extravaganza. Numbers clearly indicate that there has been a stark growth in sponsorship revenue for the league this year. The second season of the league is all set to notch up a whopping Rs 100 crore, close to double of what it managed last year, Rs 55 crore.
ISL has roped in Flipkart as their new associate sponsor, DHL, Imperial Blue and HP Enterprise as official partners. Volini has also joined hands with the cash-rich league as their official pain relief partner. Hero already has rights for the title sponsorship as they had availed it for a three-year period, and Maruti have renewed their associate sponsorship with ISL as well. Pepsi has also re-signed on the dotted line as their pouring partner, Muthoot group as referee partner and Puma as official ball partner.
Amulhas have also extended their association with the football property.
Advertisers getting on ISL bandwagon after first season’s success
The ISL had 10 brands as part of their sponsorship scheme last year and it’s expected to rise to 17 this time around. Negotiations with five other companies are currently taking place.
During a press meet, an ISL spokesperson said, “ ISL has caught the imagination the audience, be it families or the youth. It has also now become the fourth most watched football league in the world. It helps companies from an activation point of view as it’s four months long, from pre-season to the end of the league. We are hoping more sponsors will jump on-board.”
Vinit Karnik, National Director of Group M ESP told Economic Times,”A lot of advertisers who were sitting on the fence about participating in the ISL last year are getting converted seeing the numbers in year one,” He went on to add that sports such as football and kabaddi were growing, while cricket has remained relatively stagnant.
ISL saw 429 million unique television viewers last year, one of the highest for any sport in the country. Even Kabaddi registered a 50 % growth as compared to their first season. According to Industry experts, the same is being expected for the ISL 2. A lot of marketing extensions wanted to wait and watch ISL’s performance in season one, to go and invest in the property for the second season.
Let’s hope the quality of football equates to the financial gains India’s hottest football property is garnering.
