Badminton Association of India today unveiled a new model of financial governance, announcing that the Rs. 7.5 crore it would secure from the three-year sponsorship contract, brokered by Total Sports Asia on its behalf, with Premier Brands would all accrue to the players and that a group of former players would administer the sponsorship amounts.
“The entire receivables from the sponsorship would go directly to the players and BAI will not use any of it for its administrative costs,” BAI President Mr. V. K. Verma said. “Also, we are presenting a model of financial governance that will set the highest standard of transparency in sports administration,” he said
“We have invited a group of four distinguished players – Mr. Prakash Padukone, Mr. Pullela Gopichand, Mr. Dinesh Khanna and Ms. Ami Ghia Shah – to administer the money received from this sponsorship,” Mr. Verma said. “This is in keeping with our approach to selection of 16 players in the senior and junior sections as Team India by a group that comprises Mr. Gopichand, Ms. Ghia Shah, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Pradeep Gandhe and Mr. Vimal Kumar.”
Premier Brands Pvt. Ltd. Chairman Mr. Suresh Kumar emphasized that the engagement with BAI is not just a sponsorship deal. “It is our way of giving back to the society for development of sports in India and contributing to a sport with tremendous Indian heritage, history and a sense of national pride in which India has consistently proven its worth at a world stage,” he said. “We looked at different sports federations in India and came to a conclusion that BAI is one of the most professionally managed sports bodies. We will soon be announcing several other international sports and lifestyle alliances on the global scale.”
The record-breaking deal is not only a landmark in the history of Indian badminton but also heralds a new beginning for the sport in the country. The renaissance of Indian badminton is led by Saina Nehwal, who is scripting history with her exceptional talent and grit. Other players like Chetan Anand, Anup Sridhar, Arvind Bhat, V Diju and Jwala Gutta have also won laurels in some important tournaments across the world. In fact, India has more world-ranked players than ever before. It has been on the Grand Prix circuit for the last three years by hosting the India Open. BAI has also hosted World Junior Championship in 2008 and World Championship in 2009, helping the sport to become one of the four most popular sports in the country.
By becoming the official title sponsor of the National badminton team, Premier Brands gained the right to be featured prominently on the front of the team jerseys, to be named the presenting sponsor of the Yonex Sunrise Asian Badminton Championship to be held here from April 12 to 18, 2010 as a pre-cursor to the Commonwealth Games 2010 and the domestic circuit.
The continent’s leading sports marketing firm, Total Sports Asia helped BAI sign on Premier Brands (P) Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Compact Disc India Ltd. dedicated to organised brand licensing and merchandising.
Total Sports Asia Managing Director (South Asia) and senior International Vice President Mr. Suvrangsu Mukherjee said TSA was delighted to facilitate this association between BAI and Premier Brands. “All other sports federations must take a cue from BAI and ensure similar levels of transparency and keep players welfare at the forefront,” Mr. Mukherjee said. “We hope this deal elevates Indian badminton and Premier Brands to a pedestal un-paralleled by any.”
About TSA
Total Sports Asia (TSA) is Asia’s leading independent sports marketing agency and content distributor with a dedicated team of over 80 sports marketing experts and six offices in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Beijing, Tokyo, Mumbai and Delhi. Our core business is media rights distribution, TV production, sponsorship/licensing, events management and consulting. We represent major international rights in Asia and worldwide including US Open Tennis, BWF Super Series (Badminton), PSA Pro Tour (Squash), French League and the current EURO/WORLD CUP Winner Spain. TSA is recognized as Asia’s specialist in personalized sports & entertainment solutions.
For more information please visit www.totalsportsasia.com
About Premier Brands Pvt. Ltd.
Premier Brand (P) Ltd. Is a wholly owned subsidiary of Compact Disc India Ltd. (CDI) dedicated to organized brand licensing and merchandising. Compact Disc India Ltd. (CDI), the largest animation company of South Asia, is an existing, profit making, dividend paying company engaged in multimedia and entertainment production. CDI is currently working on assignments worth USD 65.80 million in outsourcing division. With a growth of over 345% in last 5 years, CDI is fast emerging as Asia’s undisputed leader in the animation film industry.
As per the audited financial results for 2008-2009, ended on March 31st, 2009, net revenue of the company was Rs. 192.10 crore and net profits of Rs. 39.50 crore. The estimated financial projections for FY 2009-10 expects the company to have a sales revenue of Rs. 540.00 crore and net profits of Rs. 124.20 crore.
Premier Brands is India’s first branding and licensing organization dedicated to product licensing, retail and merchandising. With innovative technology and ideas Premier Brands had been successful in bagging exclusive GLOBAL RIGHTS for animation and merchandising based on the animated character of legendary Brazilian soccer icon ‘Pele’. Premier Brands is also proud to have the rights for RAJU – the Joker (from the famous RK Films) and Zampano.
Some of the world’s renowned names and brands are associated with Premier Brands like BBC Films etc along with Hollywood personalities. We have been engaged to set up tea lounges, Chit Chat and Chai, in India with excellent F&B offerings and over 50 varieties of our signature product. Along with this, Premier Brands is also engaged in coming up with Chaats of India outlets with exotic veg and non veg chaat varieties. We aim at being the pioneers of the licensing industry though our innovative and committed approach.