Nimbus to invest Rs. 2.5 billion on World Series Hockey

MUMBAI: Nimbus will invest Rs 2.5 billion on World Series Hockey that kicks off on 15 December 2012.

The spending will happen in four areas - signing up of players, event operations, infrastructure and marketing and promotional activities.

."By the time the event starts, we would have spent Rs 2.5 billion which we will recuperate through different avenues like franchise fees, television rights fee and sponsorship," Nimbus executive chairman Harish Thawani said.

The event is an initiative between Nimbus Sport and the Indian Hockey Federation.

Nimbus expects the event to generate over Rs 2 billion in its first year through revenue streams such as ticketing, sponsorship and branding, Thawani said.

Nimbus Sport will float a tender on 1 August 2011 for the television rights. It expects to make between Rs 900 million-Rs 1.2 billion from the sale of television rights for five years, said Thawani.

In India, Nimbus will only sell the television rights and hold back rights for new media. "We decided to issue a tender as interest has been expressed by other broadcasters. We might have two channels airing the event and evenly split the number of matches they air," said Thawani.

The event will have eight teams. Six venues have been decided - Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Punjab and Bangalore. Two other venues will be frozen from a list consisting of Kolkata, Pune, Bhopal, Ranchi, Manipur, Lucknow and Rourkela.

There will be 61 matches which is similar to what the Indian Premier League (IPL) had when it was an eight team format in the third edition. Not surprisingly, all the venues chosen also have an IPL franchise.

Thawani said that out of the eight franchise owners, four are by invitation. "We have already done a deal with two entities. At this moment, I cannot reveal their identities. Two more will sign up shortly. We will conduct an auction to decide the other four franchises in September."

A franchise will spend Rs 70 million in the first year and a total of Rs. 2.15 billion over 15 years.

For the four franchises that have to bid, Rs. 2.15 billion will be the base price, according to Nimbus Sport COO Yannick Colaco.

176 players have been contracted by World Series Hockey. World hockey‘s governing body, the FIH, gave a written undertaking that they will not interfere with contracts of players signed before 31 March 2011.

"All our contracts were done much before that. There are 40 international stars including Brent Livermore from Australia, Rehan Butt from Pakistan and Spain‘s Rodrigo Garcia. Leandro Negre (FIH president) is not irresponsible. He understood that what we are doing is for the good of the game. Our vision is to enhance the sporting culture beyond cricket. The mission for the first year is to have a flawless event of international standards. We want spectators to have an entertainment experience of international standards," said Thawani.

In October there will be a draft to decide which players play for which franchise. Thawani opines that this is more efficient than the auction process as it doesn‘t distort salaries. "Under an auction. money can get squandered. There will not be more than five international players for a team. The captains for the teams have already been decided in consultation with the state associations and franchises."

Asked about how successful the initiative would be in terms of building franchise loyalties, Colaco said that marketing activities are already underway though there is still time for the event to start. "This will help build affinities both for the event and for the franchise in each city. A site has been launched. The event also has a presence on Facebook. A 360 degree multimedia campaign will be done," he elaborated.

Thawani noted that an earlier hockey league (done by ESPN Star Sports) was hindered by the fact that only two venues were used. The concept of home and away games was not there and so there was no local following.

"World Series Hockey will be a cooperative effort. The franchises will bring in investments. Without this help, it is difficult to sign up 176 players. Our aim is to have our players compete against the best in the world. We want to create an eco-system so that hockey becomes a viable career for youngsters in the way that cricket and football are. Nimbus Sports‘ role is that of a marketing agency in terms of bringing in sponsorship, franchises and create branding. This event will be seen in over 30 countries globally," Thawani said.