Nokia out, Gionee to adorn KKR jersey

Gionee will remain on front of team's shirt and within stadium on advertising signage for next three editions

Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Gionee will be the principal sponsor of Kolkata Knight Riders for the next three editions of the Indian Premier League.

After an innings of 8 years, the partnership between Nokia and Kolkata Knight Riders will end as Gionee is stepping in as the prinicpal sponsor of the Shah Rukh Khan owned franchisee.

Under the deal, Gionee will remain on the front of the team's shirt and within the stadium on advertising signage for the next three editions.

"KKR has become a brandname and has wide followings not only in India but across the world, the deal with a company like Gionee reinforces the strength of the KKR brand, this will be of mutual benefit," Venky Mysore, managing director and chief executive of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), told Business Standard.

While Mysore refused to give the valuation of the deal as there was a confidentiality clause, industry sources pegged it at Rs 18 crore. Last year, the overall franchisee associations for the KKR franchise were around 15 which included the likes of Royal Stag, Sansui Electric, U.S Polo Assn and Seikoas Mysore said he was confident of retaining most of the sponsors.

Nokia which signed up as the principal sponsor of KKR in 2008 remained onboard for the next seven editions.. But software giant Microsoft which took over Nokia in April last year is not interested to continue the sponsorship deal. "Though it was a very frutiful partnership with Nokia, after any acqusitions, the policy of a company changes," Mysore said.

More than 50% of an IPL team's revenue comes from BCCI, primarily through central sponsorship and fees for digital & broadcast rights that the board shares with team owners. Besides, there are other sponsorships that teams get and earnings from ticket sales. On a game day, a team owner gets about 40% of the stadium revenue as well.

Knight Riders Sports, owner of Kolkata Knight Riders has been the most successful franchisee, with net profits of Rs 10.42 crore, Rs 6.34 crore and Rs 9.18 crore in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively.

This was after it reported a net loss of Rs 11.28 crore in 2010-11, according to details filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). The company's revenue fell a little to Rs 129.48 crore in 2013-14 from Rs 138.65 crore the previous year.