MAM
Deccan Chargers ink multi-million dollar deal with Emirates
MUMBAI: Global airline company Emirates has shifted its sponsorship alliance from Kings XI Punjab to Deccan Chargers, signing a three-year multi-million dollar deal with the Hyderabad franchise as it makes the Southern region part of its focus area.
Being a team sponsor of Deccan Chargers, Emirates will have ‘Fly Emirates’ branding on the player jersey, pitch-side branding at each of the matches, player appearances, and hospitality among others.
Globally, Emirates is associated with sporting events like Fifa World Cup, Rugby World Cup, and ICC World Cup besides a whole host of other sporting events. It invests one per cent of its global revenues into sports sponsorship.
Emirates was earlier associated with Kings XI Punjab for three years since 2009 as a team sponsor. It, however, decided not to renew its deal with the Mohali franchise once it ended last year.
The Chargers on the other hand had Ultratech as their team sponsor last year, which has partnered Rajasthan Royals for the season 5 of the IPL.
Emirates Airline Vice President India & Nepal Orhan Abbas said, “Emirates had a three-year agreement with Kings XI Punjab beginning 2009 and the contract ended in 2011. We were looking at various options which have synergies with our brand. Our association with Deccan Chargers was the best fit and hence we entered into an agreement with them for the next three years.”
While refusing to give the specific value of the deal, Abbas said the multi-million dollar deal will allow the airline to connect with its consumers across India.
“Emirates has made a multi-million dollar commitment to the Deccan Chargers over the next three years starting March 2012. This three-year sponsorship commitment will allow Emirates to come closer to our customer base in one of the most important regions on our network, and share our cricketing passion with our customers.”
Abbas also asserted that sports is an important advertising vehicle for the company to raise brand awareness and build a close relationship with consumers.
The Deccan Chargers, starting their title challenge against the Chennai Super Kings in Vizag, will feature a host of household names, including Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, who will captain the side, South African stars JP Duminy and Dale Steyn, as well as Indian wicket Keeper Batsman Parthiv Patel.
“We are proud to have a leading global brand like Emirates as our Team Sponsor for the next three seasons of the IPL. We are confident this association with Emirates will be fruitful. With an exciting new squad and sponsor, we look forward to the tournament and repeating our winning performance in DLF IPL 2012,” said Deccan Chargers co-owner Gayatri Reddy.
Additionally, McDowell‘s No 1 is Fan Friendzy sponsor while other partners include Kingfisher Premium as Good Times partner, Puma as apparel sponsor, Xenoh as deodrant partner, Muffins Innovations as tablet pc partner, Apollo Hospitals as medical partner, and Oakley as eyewear partner.
The media partners include Deccan Chronicle as print media partner, TV5 News as electronic media partner, Ad Age as outdoor partner and Big FM as radio partner.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
