Handset maker Karbonn Mobiles has signed up as the title sponsor of the fourth edition of Champions League T20. The deal has been signed with ESPN Star Sports, the commercial partner of CLT20, for a year and will give the company rights to on-ground sponsorship with all its entitlements.

Asked whether the slotting of Champions League T20 (CLT20) immediately after the World T20 would lead to cricket overkill, Rajeev Shukla, Chairman IPL and member of the Champions League T20 Governing Council, said, “The Champions League T20 is gaining popularity. During the fourth edition of IPL too, CLT20 was held immediately after the IPL and was received well.”

According to ESPN, CLT20 reached out to 102 million individuals in its third edition.

He said that the IPL governing council is in the process of negotiation for renewal of deals with the sponsors. With the end of the fifth edition of IPL, most sponsor deals ended. Meanwhile, ESPN India is in talks to rope in additional advertisers for the T20 league. “Overall, there has been an advertising slowdown.

But we have marquee sports properties and we hope to achieve our targets,” said Aloke Malik, MD, ESPN Software India.

Karbonn Mobiles refused to give details of the deal, but added that it is going to spend Rs 200 crore on associating with sports.

Pradeep Jain, MD, Karbonn Mobiles, said, “We have been associated with the IPL for the past four years and CLT20 has been doing well for the past two years. We expect this sponsorship to help us connect with the consumers.” Besides cricket, the handset maker is also associating with football and hockey.

The fourth edition of Champions League T20 will feature 14 teams in 29 matches which will be held at South Africa. The qualifying stage will take place on October 9-11 and will precede the group stage on October 13.

Meenakshi.v@thehindu.co.in

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