MUMBAI: DHL has announced that it will be partnering with ESS as the presenting sponsor of the rugby coverage. Beginning with Sanzar Test that is scheduled to start this month till the Rugby World Cup in October 2003, the express and logistics company will be partnered with Star's sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports, says a company release.

With a sponsorship deal in place with ESS, DHL will be consistently in the public view throughout the year. The rugby sponsorship deal will cover all the four beams of STAR Sports in Asia. The deal includes sponsorship of live rugby action from the Super 12's, England Home Tests, Sanzar Tests (including Bledisloe Cup) half-hour magazine show World of Rugby and live and exclusive, full cable and satellite coverage of the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

Scheduled to take place from 10 October to 22 November 2003, Rugby World Cup will have 20 teams competing for the top spot. Ranked as the third largest event in the world after the Olympics and Soccer World Cup, the Rugby World Cup attracts an estimated global television viewership of 3.1 billion. ESS is scheduled to broadcast all 48 matches with daily and weekly highlights, plus a preview show.

According to a Roper Starch Consumer Study in 2000 and 2001, there is a huge and growing audience for rugby in Asia. It is estimated that around 47.9 million cable viewers in Asia (including 21.7 million in India and 3.3 million in Taiwan), mostly male, upscale professionals, constitute ESS Sports' rugby viewership in the region.

The new global brand campaign currently on-air, with the tagline "we move the world" depicting the monumental construction of the pyramids is quite an interesting watch. Whether the promo created to portray the capabilities of the new DHL, providing "more power" and "more solutions", will register in the minds of soccer fans remains to be seen.