Indiantelevision.com Team

(7 March 2008 9:30 pm)

MUMBAI: With a little over a month to go for the start of the BCCI’s DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), Hero Honda has decided to extend its co-sponsorship of the league from three to five years. The deal is now worth $22.5 million (around Rs 900 million).

Earlier, Delhi's real estate major DLF had bagged the title sponsorship rights for IPL at Rs 2 billion for five years.

BCCI VP Lalit Modi says, "I am very pleased to have the country's largest two wheeler manufacturer Hero Honda extend its co-sponsorship deal from three to five years. Hero Honda have a long association with cricket both at the domestic and international levels and their decision bears testimony to the fact that the DLF Indian Premier League is here to stay and is set to carve out a distinct niche for itself in the international cricketing calendar."

Hero Honda MD Pawan Munjal says, "We are delighted to extend our partnership with the DLF Indian Premier League. This five year association with the DLF IPL will further strengthen our close association with cricket which is now over two decades old, Indian cricket, as indeed cricket worldwide, is witnessing historic developments with the highly innovative concept of the DLF Indian Premier League, and we are happy to extend our relationship with it. The Twenty20 format of the DLF IPL is set to take cricket's popularity to a new high and like all cricket lovers I am also looking forward to the forthcoming mega cricketing event."

World Sport Group CEO South Asia Venu Nair says, "We are delighted to have concluded this landmark co-sponsorship deal with the DLF Indian Premier League for Hero Honda, the country's largest two wheeler maker. The DLF IPL is set to become one of the top sporting leagues in the world, featuring some of the finest international stars of the modern game and so it only made for a logical decision to extend the
co-sponsorship of the league from three to five years. We are certain that the DLF Indian Premier League is set to grow in stature as a truly world class event on the cricketing calendar.".

Hero Honda adds that it has been closely associated with cricket and Indian cricketers such as Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina are presently its brand ambassadors.

Earlier Max and World Sport Group had bagged IPL's global media and production rights. The franchise rights for the eight city league were won by Shah Rukh Khan (Kolkata), Preity Zinta (Mohali), Reliance Industries (Mumbai), GMR Holdings (Delhi), UB Group (Bangalore), Indian Cements Ltd (Chennai), Deccan Chronicle (Hyderabad) and Emerging Media (Jaipur).

The inaugural season of the IPL will showcase 59 matches providing broadcasters and in-stadia spectators with 177 hours of what the BCCI says will be "family entertainment.’" All matches will be held during late afternoon and evening to coincide with prime time for television and providing a convenient time for the stadium audience.

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IPL ropes in Hero Honda as co-sponsor