Indian Super League teams have a shot at unconventional sponsors

The second season of Indian Super League, the football league that kicks off on Saturday, has attracted non-traditional sponsors such as a State tourism board and e-commerce jewellery marketplaces.

As a result, the franchises are looking at a higher advertising revenues compared with the last season.

Officials at some of the leading teams said they have managed to charge 20-30 per cent higher from brands for sponsorship deals this season.

Media planners point out that teams associated with metros and traditional football-loving markets will have an edge over the others. Vinit Karnik, National Director, ESP Properties, said that overall the organisers of ISL are marketing and packaging the league in the right way.

He said the teams will gradually start seeing long-term brand deals but they will take four to five years to start making revenues. Each franchise has six slots to sell and most teams seem to have closed the sponsorship deals. However, prices commanded by teams differ from city to city.

For instance, teams have charged in the range of ₹3-6 crore for the slot in the front of the jersey, while for the back prices are between ₹1 crore and ₹3 crore.

Delhi Dynamos FC, which has associated with brands such as SpiceJet and Skyworth, has also struck a partnership with the UP Tourism Board.

Prashant Agarwal, President, Delhi Dynamos FC, said this in line with the global trend of football clubs signing up with tourism boards to leverage synergies between tourism and sports.

“We have an advantage of being the only football club in the entire northern India region and have seen a lot of interest from advertisers,” he said.

Mumbai City FC’s brand associations include ACE Group as its front jersey partner, besides VelvetCase.com, which its official jewellery partner. Velvetcase.com has curated a collection of football themed jewellery that includes cufflinks and pendants. Indranil Das Blah, CEO, Mumbai City FC, said the franchise has been targeting an increase of at least 20 per cent for its team sponsorships compared to the previous season.

Meanwhile, teams are also expected to get higher returns through the central pool as the organisers of the ISL are said to have nearly doubled sponsorship revenues and got on board more brands.

The central pool of revenues is split between the franchises and is their biggest revenue stream.

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