Sportsnob – Critics Corner

As far as sports businesses go, they don’t get any bigger currently than a leading European football club. The reach and support of teams such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal, Barcelona, and AC Milan spread far and wide and easily trump any American Baseball or Basketball team. And any company that is looking to establish its name globally could do well in sponsoring one of these clubs. And it looks like in 2011 we might just find the Manchester United team taking the pitch with a Tata logo on their jerseys.Over the past few days Indian websites have been abuzz with details of how the Red Devils have approached the Indian conglomerate with different sponsorship opportunities. And judging by the comments coming from the Tata offices, it looks like the company is seriously considering these proposals. Tata already has its logo on the Ferrari F1 car as a result of Tata Consultance Services (TCS) being Ferrari’s technology partner. 

AIG’ s Financial Problems:

In recent months, current Manchester United shirt sponsor American insurance giant AIG’s financial problems have escalated resulting in the company’s decision not to extend the shirt sponsorship beyond 2010. The U.S. government (or the American tax payer) now owns 80 percent of AIG and many see the AIG – United deal as another way of U.S. tax payer money going abroad unnecessarily. All this has resulted in senators calling for AIG to cancel the 14M Euro payment due towards sponsorship for 2009.

Over the past few months, the marketing department at Old Trafford has been working furiously to court new sponsors- a lot many of them being Asian companies. Companies include Saudi Telecom, China Telecom, Sahara Group (who of course sponsor the Indian Cricket Team as well), the Malaysian budget airline Air Asia. Other companies that are in the running include British insurance giant- Prudential, Pepsi and McDonalds

The Muscle of Manchester United

Tata has just got so much free publicity from the Nano (mostly positive) that people might wonder if Tata really need to spend another Rupees 50 Crores on this deal. But considering that United nearly have 75 million fans all over the world (with at least half of them in Asia) and their matches consistently get audiences that go into the hundreds of millions this could be a fabulous move for Tata. Tata of course has recently acquired prominent global brands like Tetley (beverage), Jaguar, Land Rover (Automobiles) and Corus (steel). 

A win- win deal?

Personally, it almost always amazes me just how many Indians with absolutely no interest in football  know about Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and about the top four English clubs. And surprisingly, in India football (or atleast European Football) is more of a upper class sport with many young members of the middle class watching a lot of football on television. And Manchester United probably recognize that a deal with an Indian corporate could well open to new football and business avenues of growth in the country. And with Tata doing its best to improve its brand presence globally – this could be a win-win situation for both the parties.

  On Tuesday night, Liverpool smacked seven shades of shit out of Real Madrid. Yep, Real Madrid. The 4-0 result (5-0 on aggregate) will reverberate around Europe, possibly even more so than Bayern Munich’s 7-1 massacre of a hapless Sporting Lisbon. Fernando Torres scored his first goal of the Champions League this season with a close range finish from Dirk Kuyt’s dragback, making sure that the visiting Madrelinos were well aware of who had drawn first blood in the second leg of this Last 16 tie. Steven Gerrard, appearing in his 100th Champions League game for Liverpool, scored the second from the penatly spot, after the referee and his assistant had wrongly adjudged Gabriel Heinze to have handled the ball in his own box. The third goal also came from Gerrard’s boot – a superlative finish to round off a move which he had started near the penalty spot. His first-time half-volley from Ryan Babel’s cross crashed into the back of the net, leaving iker Casillas with no chance at all. When Andrea Dossena side-footed into the net in the 88th minute to make it four (read that: four!) nil, the Spanish number one was reduced to tears of frustration.

This was Madrid’s heaviest defeat in European competition since 1989, when the Milan side of Arrigo Sacchi thwacked them 5-0. Tonight could have been far, far worse had it not been for Casillas’ heroics. Rafael Benitez must take much of the credit, showing his former employers exactly what they were missing. Whether Liverpool can go all the way to European glory under this much-maligned genius remains to be seen, but for now Liverpool fans all over the world will be basking in the warm afterglow of a superlative performance.

Man of the Match: Javier Macherano – Provided the assist for Dossena’s goal. His relentless running ensured that Madrid never had time to pause and catch their breath, while his tackling was exceptional

 I hate to say this. But this was coming. In a shocking incident in Lahore, terrorists ambushed the bus of the Sri Lankan cricket team injuring 6 cricketers. The Sri Lankan team was traveling from the hotel to the Gaddafi stadium for the second day of the test match when the team bus was attacked by terrorists at the crowded Liberty Chowk. None of the Sti Lankan cricketers seem to be seriously injured but unfortunately 6 bodyguards and 2 civilians lost their lives. Hours after the ambush, local police defused two car bombs and also recovered a stash of weapons.

The first incident after Munich 1972?

All day I have been trying to think of incidents where sports persons were directly targeted by terrorists or other militant groups. But I just cant come up of any other incidents apart from the Munich 1972 attack where Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian gunmen. There have been incidents where there have been bomb incidents around sporting events but none that have directly involved athletes.

Long term impact on Pakistan Sport

I don’t think too many teams will even think about touring Pakistan meaning that the country will be forced to play most of its home matches in cricket, football, and other team sports on neutral venues (most probably the Middle East). The 2011 World Cup will probably be shifted exclusively to India and Sri Lanka (and probably Bangladesh). The big question is what exactly was the Pakistan security forces doing? This was a very high-profile tour and the first cricket tour in Pakistan in almost two years. No amount of assurances from Pakistan authorities will convince any team to tour the country unless the situations change dramatically. 

Its a good thing that the Indian team did not tour Pakistan. considering the history, and the situation an attack on the Indian team would have been absolutely catastrophic.