Chennai Sports & Sports Infrastructure

[kannan infratech]

Why TN Govt has not announced any reward for our own Ashwin?

Election Mode?

[bonoslack7]

1 crore for ashwin announced + 3 crore for whole team

[Vicvin86]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/s...ow/7864056.cms

[bonoslack7]

[kannan infratech]

Thanks bonoslack7 & Vickvin86.

I am still not out of the hangover, it seems.

[bonoslack7]

To be honest, a person who wishes to remain in whatever ipl team should be allowed to do so instead of treating them as cattle. If murali and balaji had that choice, they would have remained in chennai.

[murlee]

U knw guys!! Ashwin was my senior in college!!

[kannan infratech]

Originally Posted by bonoslack7

To be honest, a person who wishes to remain in whatever ipl team should be allowed to do so instead of treating them as cattle. If murali and balaji had that choice, they would have remained in chennai.

In EPL, the agent of the players negotiate with the club management & the manager and get the best deal for the player.

But in IPL, the players are at the mercy of the IPL management.

[bonoslack7]

A clause should be put such that players can stay with their team if they are okay with base price.

[THEGREAT]

then what about viswanathan anand????Why do people always go gaga on cricket achievements only???

Why didnt the indian hockey teams dint get the recognition when they won consecutive world cups???

[murlee]

When did the hockey team win consecutive world cups??? India last won the Hockey world cup in 1975 sir!!

[THEGREAT]

i mean olympics...and dont address me as sir...

[Anniyan]

From what I read in cricinfo, IPL inaguration ceremony looks like a big flop.

[ferrari_fan]

From what I saw on tv it looked pretty sad.. Match was fun though!

[bonoslack7]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...46.cms?curpg=3

The euphoria over the world cup win is yet to die down. Workers at the Wankhede may still be clearing the confetti. MS Dhoni and his mates will only now start to feel the aches and creaks. But a breather for cricketers and fans alike will have to wait.

For, the annual travelling circus called the Indian Premier League-the grand setting of big bucks and bigger egos-is back in town.

As the franchised cricket league enters its fourth season, sailing through a third of the 10-year ownership given to privately held teams by BCCI, there is no better time than now to assess the return on investments made by some of the biggest corporate houses and canniest business minds in India.

A recent joint study by ET and Brand Finance, a global consultancy, pegs the overall brand value of IPL at nearly $3.7 billion. The brand value of top bananas like Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings has shot up to $57 million and $55 million.

Still, there is no ducking the inevitable question: is the IPL making money for the team owners? The big sixes and cheerleaders apart, the IPL still conjures up visions of big money thrown around for ownership in 2008. India Cements won the bid for the Chennai franchise for $91 million.

Reliance Industries won the bid for Mumbai Indians at $111.9 million. And considering that this season's player auctions (telecast live to add to the drama) where some of India's richest pursued Gautam Gambhir and Piyush Chawla with blank cheques in hand, it is easy to assume that the cost of losing would be near-bankruptcy or being denied entry into The Belvedere or The Chambers.

Truth is the IPL business model is remarkable in its simplicity. Indeed, the sources of income for teams are guaranteed and stable, and avenues for expenditure limited and fixed. It is a business that B-school students could run without bleeding money. And it's as risk free as a batsman milking off-spinners for four runs an over in the middle overs of a one-day international.

How it works

When India Cements' vice-chairman N Srinivasan won the Chennai franchise, baffled analysts were eager to grill him on why a manufacturing company that requires high capital expenditure 'fritter' money on cricket.



One analyst quizzed Srinivasan why he hadn't mentioned that the company was going to earmark such a huge amount for a non-core activity when he was trying to raise money from the domestic markets through a qualified institutional placement.

Srinivasan's reply showed a limpid Tam Bram's grasp of the financial dynamics of IPL. "If I can be brutally frank, we only looked at this as a marketing thing. We did not think that

this is an earthshaking event that should cause so many people so much of concern," he said. "Here there is no outflow. This is just a marketing strategy. We are doing something slightly innovative at no cost." Yes, that is right. Running an IPL team costs little.

To begin with, the cost of acquiring a franchise is fairly low. For instance, if Reliance Industries won the Mumbai team bid for $111.9 million, it has to pay IPL only a tenth of that amount. In RIL's case, that is $12 million a year. And that is a team's biggest expenditure. Player wages, fixed at $5 million then, is now capped at $9 million. Logistics and administrative costs account for another $2-3 million

If you are still unimpressed, consider this: teams get nearly $10 million a year from IPL's central broadcasting and sponsorship pool. It is their biggest source of revenue, contributing almost 70% of income. The teams keep earnings from ticket sales, sponsorship deals they strike on their own, and income from merchandise such as replica shirts and sundry souvenirs.

Together, these returns offset the personnel costs. Under Lalit Modi's three-year reign at IPL, teams benefited a great deal as he managed to rope in new sponsors. Modi also introduced a rash of ad breaks, notably the scheduled 10-minute match break anomalously called "strategic time-out".

No prizes for guessing who will miss Modi the most. So even if a team takes only a stab at marketing and adds fans to its ranks, there's a good chance it will be loss free. Or as Srinivasan said, "I have no capital employed and everything is revenue plus. The only capital I will invest is in cricket kits."

It's the core business, stupid

The smarter team owners have been those who haven't chased the mirage of fancy valuations, made tall claims about listing on the bourses, or treat IPL as a significant cash generator. Rather, they have used IPL to grow their bread and butter businesses. Here, the Chennai and Mumbai team owners are shining examples.



"To get into IPL was a very clear, cold analytical decision taken solely with a view to building our brand more extensively and deeply throughout the country," said Srinivasan. India Cements has been trying to break free from its conservative mould, trying to grow beyond its traditional southern markets.

Here, running a successful cricket team captained by Dhoni becomes the calling card when it meets dealers and consumers in the north. The company has offered 1,800 new dealers in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan free tickets for CSK's games, coupled with a pilgrimage to Tirupati. The strategy has paid off, says India Cements marketing head Rakesh Singh. The company is now able to utilise every bit of its factories' capacity.

For Mukesh Ambani, the deep-pocketed promoter of Mumbai Indians, the team is a valuable managerial training ground for family. It also gives RIL a platform to extend its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. And even India's biggest private company would not mind more visibility.

Brand Finance says Reliance's integration of social and business dimensions gives MI an existence with a purpose, th ereby, creating a healthier sporting ecosystem. The team has partnered five NGOs-Pratham, Ummeed, Akanksha, Teach For India and Nanhi Kali-that work in education for underprivileged children. "Such a unique business proposition offers the brand Mumbai Indians immense ability to attract and associate with global fan base," says Brand Finance India managing director M Unni Krishnan.

After a dismal first year, Vijay Mallya's Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) proved to be quick learners and turned the corner. Now, the flamboyant promoter is no longer accused of using the franchise as an expensive hobby horse. Realising that running a franchise based in Bangalore would be impossible without the support of the local Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), the team went on to co-opt its officials. Anil Kumble, captain-turned-mentor for the franchise, is today the president of KSCA.

RCB has now emerged as a well-managed professional club with a strong focus on innovation in fan engagement, merchandising and ticketing. Its substantial investments in developing corporate stands to create a world-class sports-viewing experience has resulted in higher gate receipts and higher margins for every ticket sold. The franchise has become an extension of Kingfisher's tag line "The king of good times".

Teams such as Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders have roped in professional CEOs with experience in financial services to bolster their chances of success and find a way out of cricketing mediocrity. On-field success can give you bragging rights at a party, or fetch a few million dollars in sponsorship.

The IPL's lesson is this: unless you have a core business that can piggyback on the visibility provided by the tournament, there's no fortune waiting at the bottom of the pyramid, at least for a few years.

[TShyam]

Among the team owners, Chennai's are the most cold, calculative and analytical. No doubt about that.

[Indian Sun]

Yeah. Least glitz, most cricket

[kongutamizhan]

New kind of sports unique to TN utilizes our sports infrastructure to the max

English summary of the article

Udayanidhi Stalin will be hosting a grand function to celebrate the success of his four films Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya, Boss Engira Bhaskaran, Madarasapattinam and Myna with the Superstar.

Yes, Finally Rajinikanth accepted to distribute the shields to the artists of all the four films on May 7th at Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai.

[ceeznic pirate]

SARATH KUMAR RACES AT THE TOP!

The first Indian on a MotoGP grid also became the first Indian to race at the top, after qualifying for the recently concluded Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril


Within three races, the shining beacon of India at the top level of motorcycle racing showed his class. Sarath Kumar, the 20 year old youngster from Chennai managed to qualify at the 125cc Grand Prix of Portugal at the Estoril circuit, and created history after becoming the first Indian ever to race at the top level of international motorcycle grand prix road racing.
While Sarath had made his debut a few months back at the 2011 season opening race at Qatar, he had not managed to qualify yet owing to the 107% rule, where riders who cannot clock a time within a certain limit to the fastest rider cannot appear for the race. At Estoril however, Sarath was given a spot on the grid to start the race from 30th place. After riding a tough race and even being lapped by the faster riders, he managed to finish in an encouraging 24th position.
While that may not sound like much, it must be remembered that Sarath's essential racing exposure until now has been restricted at local-level racing in India. The proud Chennai lad began the race with a placard saying 'Namaste India' - here's sending a big namaste back to him, and wishing him luck in his debut season!



TOI

[Raji7373]

May 28: Eight-year-old L.N. Ramesh Aravind, a budding chess prodigy, recently brought laurels to the city and the country, winning two championships — Asian youth chess championship and Asian youth blitz chess championship in Philippines.

Aravind, a Class IV student of Kamala Nikhetan Montessori school in the city, represented the country in the Under-8 age group in the Asian-level tournament and won all rounds. He bagged two gold medals: one each at the Asian youth chess championship and Asian youth blitz chess championship which was a sequel to the main event. By virtue of his win at the Asian level, he will represent the country in the world youth chess championship in Brazil later this year.

Earlier, he had won the national youth chess championship (Under-7 category) at Jamshedpur in November 2010 and was picked by the all Indian chess federation to represent the country in the Asian youth chess championship in Philippines. He was initiated into chess at the tender age of two and trained by a professional coach from then on, say his businessman father Nagappan and homemaker mother Muthu.

“Aravind is gifted with phenomenal memory and could identify the national flags even when he was two. As he was also a voracious reader, we wanted to channelise his talent in a mentally-challenging board game like chess,” said his mother. “Now he is under the tutelage of coach Manikanteswarasamy of Vellore who trains Aravind in person and through the online platform,” said Mr Nagappan. Manikanteswarasamy says Aravind was an aggressive player as he won the title with a round to spare in the Philippines tournament. “We hope he would bring laurels at the global level soon.”

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chann...orld-title-998