MAM
Chennaiyin FC ink partnership with Polyhose as official presenting sponsor
Mumbai: Chennaiyin FC has roped in Polyhose, a diversified industrial conglomerate, as the club’s official presenting sponsor for the upcoming 2023-24 Indian football season.
The strategic partnership will allow Polyhose to leverage the widespread popularity of Chennaiyin FC to build a positive brand recall and affinity amongst CFC fans. The association is also set to reinforce Polyhose’s presence in the key market of Tamil Nadu and promote its commitment to innovation and engagement with stakeholders.
“We are delighted to welcome Polyhose as Chennaiyin FC’s presenting sponsor. Their commitment to contributing to the growth of the sport is exemplary, and we look forward to achieving great success together both on and off the field. This partnership is a testament to the strength of football in Tamil Nadu and the growth potential it holds,” stated Chennaiyin FC vice-president Ekansh Gupta.
Headquartered in Chennai, Polyhose has established global footprints with a presence in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South Africa and Australia. As part of the partnership, the company’s logo will be featured on the back of the Chennaiyin FC jersey while the H Stand inside the team’s home turf at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will be renamed as the Polyhose Stand.
“We are pleased to announce the sponsorship of Chennaiyin FC, to support the football team and create electrifying moments for Chennai Fans. We’re big football fans who are proud of the growth of our local team, so sponsoring the club this season was a great choice. Through this collaboration, the two organizations share common goals of commitment to excellence and innovation while offering a wide range of unique and special experiences in this season. Wishing good luck to the entire team,” Polyhose managing director Shabbir YJ.
To make the association even more exciting, the kids of Polyhose’s employees will have the unique opportunity to walk out with Chennaiyin FC players during three home matches in the season, creating a memorable experience for them.
Chennaiyin FC will be in action on Saturday when they host Mohun Bagan Super Giant in their first home match of the Indian Super League 2023-24 season.
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.
