MAM
Air Deccan inks pact with HPCL
BANGALORE: Air Deccan announced a tie up with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) to sell Air Deccan Air Tickets at HPCL petrol pumps.
HPCL Retail executive director S P Choudhary said that Air Ticketing was another product that HPCL was introducing as a part of the bouquet of product and services HPCL offer to customers at petrol bunks. The bulk of the customers at petrol refueling stations were the middle class, the very segment that Air Deccan wanted to tap.
“We want to ensure that the middle class has access to Internet in the country in our delivery system, our customers must have more options for ticketing sources, we’re expanding our network to connect the interior parts of the country and want to make tickets easily available, we are simplifying the purchase process of Air Deccan tickets,” said Air Deccan MD G R Gopinath.
This association will help integrate small cities with large metros in the country and provide a base of around 250 million middle class customers. The cash earned by petrol pumps could also be rolled over due to the sale of tickets. It is a win-win situation for both Air Deccan and HPCL.
HPCL staff have been trained by Air Deccan for new ticket distribution, which will initially be channelised through 10 select petrol pumps in Bangalore and could involve a network of the 2000 Club HP petrol pumps across the country within a yeas time. HP expects to upgrade another 1000 petrol pumps to Club HP and these too could be brought in the loop to sell Air Tickets.
Brands
Blue God Entertainment buys Legends League Cricket in Rs 49 crore deal
Acquisition makes it the first cricket league linked to a listed Indian entity
NEW DELHI: Cricket’s veterans’ carnival has found a new backer. Blue God Entertainment Ltd has acquired Legends League Cricket for Rs 49 crore, turning it into the first cricket league to be represented through a listed Indian entity.
The deal, announced by Absolute Legends Sports Pvt Ltd, signals a fresh chapter for the league that brings former international stars back into the spotlight. With this acquisition, cricket meets capital markets in a way rarely seen before in India.
Blue God will now hold long-term commercial rights spanning media, sponsorship, franchise development and global content distribution. In effect, it is not just buying a tournament, but a sports property with television appeal, brand muscle and the promise of recurring revenues.
Absolute Legends Sports chairman Vivek Khushalani, described the league as a scalable global sports property with strong commercial fundamentals and rising fan engagement. The partnership, he said, ushers in institutional capital and sharper long-term growth visibility while allowing his company to follow an asset-light strategy and retain brand leadership.
For Blue God Entertainment, the move fits neatly into its ambition to build a sports and entertainment ecosystem with dependable income streams. Spokesperson Nitin Khanna said the league offers a powerful growth platform and significant commercial potential.
Legends League Cricket co-founder Raman Raheja, called the transaction a defining moment for global sports business. By aligning a cricket property with public markets, he noted, the deal creates a new template for how sports intellectual property can be valued, monetised and scaled.
In simple terms, this is cricket stepping onto the trading floor. If the model succeeds, fans may soon find that the thrill of the boundary rope is matched by the buzz of the balance sheet.
