ICC World Cup 2011- Money Talk

The 10th edition of the ICC cricket world cup 2011 is finally underway
and the event has generated tremendous excitement and hype. The
WC 2011 is being held in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka- three
cricket crazy countries.

India with its population of more than 1 billion plus cricket lovers
forms the financial powerhouse of the sport. The tournament is often
viewed as a perfect platform for many of the big brands to reach out
to their consumers. The WC of 2007 proved catastrophic with India's
early exit from the tournament. The rest of the tournament witnessed
a huge dip in viewer ship and sponsorship revenues.

Here is a look at the business side of the world cup that gives a good
indication of the corporate philosophy of some of the biggest brands
we know and efforts they go through to make themselves visible. It
also gives an interesting insight into the administrative aspect of the
game.

Prize Money
The cricket world cup has evolved ever since it was first played in 1979
when West Indies was the first team to have won it. Clive Lloyd's team
pocketed 4000 pounds for winning the inaugural event and then took
home another 10000 pounds when they won it again four years later.

Since then the prize money has always been rapidly increasing - an
indication of the popularity and commercial potential of the ODI
format.

The winning team of the 43 day event who will be crowned Champions
at the Whankede stadium in Mumbai on April 2, 2011 are set to pocket
a cool 3.25 million dollars with even the losing team winning a
substantial amount of 1.5 million dollars in prize money.

The two losing semi-finalists will be able to take home 500,000 dollars
each, while teams that are knocked out in the quarter-final stage will
get 250,000 dollars each. Apart from that an additional 30,000 dollars
will be awarded to the winners of each first round match.

If the team that has been crowned champion manages to win all their
preliminary 6 group games then they stand to pocket an additional
180,000 dollars. And all this prize money does not include the share of
the profits the ICC will be giving to all the 14 participating teams from
its joint revenue pool.
Official Sponsors
The ad, sponsor and telecast rights have their own tale to tell. Hyundai
Motor India Limited (HMIL) will be the first official car partner of ICC
WC from 2011 to 2015.

As part of the agreement ICC officials, players and VIP guests will use
Hyundai cars for official transportation for the entire duration of the
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and the contract extends till 2015.

In addition to the World Cup, Hyundai will also be transport partners

for the Women's World Cup and the T20 championship.

The on-ground sponsors of ICC World Cup - Reliance Communications,

LG, PepsiCo, Reebok, Hero Honda, Emirates, Yahoo, Castrol and
Money Gram have together paid an estimated Rs. 1200 crore for in-
stadium advertising.

Since so much of cricket is viewed on television, the game is closely

linked with advertising and ad revenue. And in terms of sponsorships,
eight brands have come on board as partnering or associate sponsors.

Sony India, Hero Honda and Vodafone who have each shelled out Rs.
55 crore for the rights of on-air joint presenting sponsors for the world
cup. In addition to that associate sponsors Nokia, Pepsi, Maruti Suzuki,
Philips India and Airtel Digital TV have all paid Rs. 35 crore each.

Telecast Rights
ESPN Software India has been acknowledged as the official carrier and
broadcaster for the tournament. It has signed an 8 yr deal with ICC
that includes World Cup, one T20 series and one Championship League
each year.

The deal is valued at about $1.1 billion and the network which includes
ESPN, STAR Sports and STAR Cricket, will telecast all 49 matches of
the ICC World Cup 2011.

ESPN-STAR Sports will take this tournament to more than 181

territories around the world.

ESPN has already said to have signed up brands in the likes of HUL,
Spicejet, Perfetti, Samsung, Indigo, Yamaha for ads on its website.
The current World Cup has so far attracted more than $150 million in
advertising revenue, which is fifty percent more than what was made
in 2007 when India and Pakistan lost out very early.

Hence one can imagine the revenues, if India made it to the final.

ESPN has already reserved inventory, this considering if India

manages to reach the final.

In that case the ad rates could touch an unprecedented Rs. 24 lakh for
a 10-second spot.