Kingfisher to co-sponsor Indian Derby - By Shailendra Awasthi (TOI)
Posted on - 28 Nov 2015
Kingfisher to co-sponsor Indian Derby
By Shailendra Awasthi
Times of India
The suspense over the Indian Derby sponsorship is over. As promised, the marketing team of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC), led by Vivek Jain, has managed to sort out the issue by the end of November. Jain convinced United Breweries to step in as co-sponsor for the Indian Derby, the most coveted race in Indian racing.The race will most likely be called Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby.
After United Spirits Limited (USL), now controlled by Diageo, had decided to terminate the sponsorship last September, Jain and RWITC chairman Zavaray Poonawalla worked hard to convince USL to reconsider their five year-contract which runs till 2017. After a meeting in Bangalore with Jain and Poonawalla, USL agreed to reinstate 50% of the contracted value (Rs 3crore) for the two years and gave the RWITC the right to bring in a co-sponsor. “This gave us the window to search for a co sponsor, and I reached out to several corporates. Finally we had protracted discussions with UB, who own the Kingfisher brand, and it emerged as the top contender. After to and fro e-mails and giving value propositions, an agreement on basic terms was reached on Thursday ,“ Jain informed TOI on Friday .
The draft terms envisage both USL and UB jointly contributing 12 crore for the years 2016 and 2017 and UB will be given the first and last right of refusal thereafter. In addition, UB will earmark Rs 4 crore over the next two years for marketing the Derby separately .“A big bonus for the RWITC is the agreement to bring on day sponsors for both days of the Derby Weekend,“ Jain added.
This development might see some of the races run on Derby Weekend have individual title sponsorship. In addition, Kingfisher will also be part of Evening Racing. “Kingfisher will come on board as associate sponsors for Evening Racing as part of this package and will drive promotion of evening extravaganza,“ said Jain.
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