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.
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Learning tennis under the tutelage of his dad, he was Indian tennis’ first star. Growing up in the small town of Tenkasi and later playing on poor facilities in Madras, reaching a ranking of Number 3 in the world must rank as astounding. I have never seen clips of Ramanathan Krishnan play. But from what I have read, he was supposedly a master of angles and great volleyer to boot. Anyone who reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon twice and was reckoned as among the top players he has faced by Rod Laver must’ve been good.
A tall, well-built youngster from Madras was to be the next great flag-bearer of Indian tennis. A strong serve and volleyer and good movement on court were his major strengths. The grainy clippings one sees of the man indicate some grace and speed on court. But the lack of fitness and stamina to play long matches proved to be his undoing in the quest for grand slam glory.
Charlesworth comes to India with probably a coaching resume that is on par with the best in any sport. After a stellar career as a player in the 1970 and the 1980s, Charlesworth took charge of the Australian Women’s Hockey team in the early 1990s and made them into the sort of dominating force that is now associated with the Australian cricket team. The womens team went to win the Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2000, the Champions trophy in 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999 and also the World Cup in between. Before the current role, Charlesworth was performance consultant with the New Zealand cricket team (did I mention he was a state cricket player too?) and has been in demand with the English Cricket board interested in hiring him. Oh, and he was also elected by the people of Perth to the National Parliament and was in the Parliament for 10 years.
