Wednesday, January 21, 2009
United eye passage to India
Phil Holland
It may come as a surprise to some to learn that one of the companies in the frame to become Manchester United's next shirt sponsor comes from India. But don't be fooled by the impoverished scenes depicted in Slumdog Millionaire, India boasts some of the most extraordinary wealth in the world.
United's current sponsorship deal with AIG expires at the end of next season, and given that the US insurance giant narrowly avoided bankruptcy last year (thanks to a $152 billion federal bailout) few observers where surprised when they confirmed they would not to be in the running to renew their four-year, £56.5 million deal.
Although the current economic climate suggests that United will be lucky to find another company willing to again break the British record shirt sponsorship deal as AIG did, it won't stop United from trying.
Enter Sahara. Anyone with a passing interest in cricket may have seen Sahara's logo on the shirts of the Indian national team; a privilege they paid $70 million for.
Sahara is a difficult organisation to pigeonhole, so wide and varied are their interests. The privately owned company is involved in airlines, financial services and property. Oh, and they built a city. That's right, a city; the extraordinary Aamby Valley development; a 10,000-acre ''aspirational city'' which Sahara refer to as a ''Megalopolis.'' Google it, incredible.
And Sahara are far from the only exorbitantly prosperous group in India, a fact illustrated by the vast sums which were spent, and continue to be spent, on cricket's Indian Premier League.
The sport's Indian governing body auctioned the rights to operate eight IPL franchises in the popular Twenty20 competition and earned a massive $723 million by doing so. The title sponsorship rights to the tournament, which began last year, were sold for $50 million, while the global television rights were sold for $918 million.
Sahara would not be India's first representative in English football, they would follow QPR co-owner Lakshmi Mittal, who, according to Forbes magazine, is the fourth richest person in the world with a net worth of around US$45 billion.
For United the possibility of agreeing a deal with an Indian company fits neatly with their continued expansion plans, and as noted above, the wealth in India makes having a presence in the subcontinent advantageous.
Of course, while there is supreme wealth in India there is also extreme poverty, and the gap between rich and poor is excruciating to all who have witnessed it.
While United will be happy to attract new fans from every demographic and social strata in the subcontinent, they will not be expecting to make money from the average fan.
Rather United will be targeting India's burgeoning super rich and the country's business leaders, hence why they sent a letter to Sahara inviting them to become a potential partner ''for the world's most iconic sports marketing tool, the Manchester United shirt''.
And in a savvy move designed to pique interest the club also sent the company a United shirt bearing the Sahara logo.
URL: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/column...t=england&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos2&cc=3436
An interesting read I thought I might share with you guys...I know there is a thread about the shirt sponsors already so I guess a merge is possible but there is more to the article which I did not post about Abramovic and Al Fayed if interested
United eye passage to India
Phil Holland
It may come as a surprise to some to learn that one of the companies in the frame to become Manchester United's next shirt sponsor comes from India. But don't be fooled by the impoverished scenes depicted in Slumdog Millionaire, India boasts some of the most extraordinary wealth in the world.
United's current sponsorship deal with AIG expires at the end of next season, and given that the US insurance giant narrowly avoided bankruptcy last year (thanks to a $152 billion federal bailout) few observers where surprised when they confirmed they would not to be in the running to renew their four-year, £56.5 million deal.
Although the current economic climate suggests that United will be lucky to find another company willing to again break the British record shirt sponsorship deal as AIG did, it won't stop United from trying.
Enter Sahara. Anyone with a passing interest in cricket may have seen Sahara's logo on the shirts of the Indian national team; a privilege they paid $70 million for.
Sahara is a difficult organisation to pigeonhole, so wide and varied are their interests. The privately owned company is involved in airlines, financial services and property. Oh, and they built a city. That's right, a city; the extraordinary Aamby Valley development; a 10,000-acre ''aspirational city'' which Sahara refer to as a ''Megalopolis.'' Google it, incredible.
And Sahara are far from the only exorbitantly prosperous group in India, a fact illustrated by the vast sums which were spent, and continue to be spent, on cricket's Indian Premier League.
The sport's Indian governing body auctioned the rights to operate eight IPL franchises in the popular Twenty20 competition and earned a massive $723 million by doing so. The title sponsorship rights to the tournament, which began last year, were sold for $50 million, while the global television rights were sold for $918 million.
Sahara would not be India's first representative in English football, they would follow QPR co-owner Lakshmi Mittal, who, according to Forbes magazine, is the fourth richest person in the world with a net worth of around US$45 billion.
For United the possibility of agreeing a deal with an Indian company fits neatly with their continued expansion plans, and as noted above, the wealth in India makes having a presence in the subcontinent advantageous.
Of course, while there is supreme wealth in India there is also extreme poverty, and the gap between rich and poor is excruciating to all who have witnessed it.
While United will be happy to attract new fans from every demographic and social strata in the subcontinent, they will not be expecting to make money from the average fan.
Rather United will be targeting India's burgeoning super rich and the country's business leaders, hence why they sent a letter to Sahara inviting them to become a potential partner ''for the world's most iconic sports marketing tool, the Manchester United shirt''.
And in a savvy move designed to pique interest the club also sent the company a United shirt bearing the Sahara logo.
URL: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/column...t=england&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos2&cc=3436
An interesting read I thought I might share with you guys...I know there is a thread about the shirt sponsors already so I guess a merge is possible but there is more to the article which I did not post about Abramovic and Al Fayed if interested
