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| Airtel signs multi-million dollar deal with Man United |
| Press Trust of India / Manchester May 09, 2009, 12:32 IST |
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India's top mobile company Bharti Airtel has entered into a multi-million dollar deal with Manchester United, under which its 100 million subscribers would get exclusive access to the mobile content related to one of the world's richest football clubs.
"Footbal is definitely seeing a growing interest amongst the young population in India. Therefore, we are making a pioneering effort to bring to them rich football content on their mobiles, participation in soccer schools and also an opportunity to watch football matches across Europe," Bharti Airtel Deputy CEO Sanjay Kapoor said after signing the deal.
Asked about the financial details, Kapoor said that it is a multi-million dollar deal, but did not divulge further details. There will be revenue sharing between Manchester United and Airtel for retrieving the contents on mobile phones.
The deal was announced in the presence of renowned soccer players Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Darren Fletcher of MUC.
"The deal has two parts-– fixed component to be paid by the company over a period of five years and variable component which would depend on the amount of revenue generated through this deal," Kapoor said.
Bharti Airtel, which had last year announced its plans of setting up a football academy at an investment of Rs 100 crore with the aim of making India eligible for the World Cup 2018, is the first Indian company to sign such an exclusive deal with Manchester United.
As part of the deal, Airtel will be able to bring to its customers rich and exclusive content such as video clips of matches, classic goals and highlights of games of MUC. On the pricing of contents, Kapoor said no decision has been taken yet but assured that it would be in line with the company's affordable tariff policy.
Commenting on the deal, Machester United Club CEO David Gill said, "I know that cricket is the top game of the moment in India.... Football is most popular after cricket and its fan following is growing among the youth. If curry can become number-one dish in the UK, then why football cannot become number one game in India," Gill added.
The contents would be available to all Airtel subscribers in India, Sri Lanka and Seychelles, Kapoor said adding that a few lucky Airtel customers would also get an opportunity to travel with Manchester United first team during their Champions league matches.
Pursuant to this deal, Football enthusiasts among Airtel customers will get an opportunity to train at one of the Manchester United Soccer Schools run at Hong Kong, Seattle, Toronto and Dubai. There are 330 million supporters of MUC and of this 12 million are estimated to be in India. This partnership with Airtel would further strengthen fans in the Asian subcontinent.
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