Kingfisher will provide airline services to the players and the BCCI officials who take part in the tournament, according to the agreement. A statement from Kingfisher said, “There will be dedicated check-in counters, VIP lounge access, an exclusive ground handling team at all airports and a special helpline number for all air travel needs”.

Vijay Mallya has a long history of being associated with all kinds of sports activites. Mallya has been linked to tennis, formula 1, polo and this new announcement marks Mallya’s entry into the cricket arena.

Global media and production rights for the DLF IPL had already been bagged by  sports broadcaster Sony Max and World Sport Group. The co-sponsorship rights for the IPL Twenty 20 tournament had been bagged by Hero Honda.

Titled ‘Manoranjan Ka Baap’, the 75-second commercial is a tribute to the high-on-entertainment movies of the 80s and pitches IPL as the ultimate destination for TV entertainment. The commercial amplifies the expression ‘the Baap of all Entertainment’. The film revolves around a mother and her twin fatherless sons named Mano and Ranjan – . The family is constantly victimised and subjected to barbs by the entire village. Kab aayega tumhara baap? (When will your father come?) is a never-ending taunt. The twins keep retaliating that their father will definitely return one day. The narration builds to a climax with the woe-ridden woman contemplating ending her life and that is when the miracle occurs. Her children stop her just in time by screaming that their father has arrived. Cut to children dancing deliriously and kissing the TV set and the voice over announcing “Aagaya Manoranjan Ka Baap. DLF Indian Premier League. Sirf MAX par”

According to T Gangadhar, Vice President and Head of Marketing, MAX, “From a broadcast strategy perspective, the challenge was to find a unifier that binds the entire country – a lowest common denominator that is compelling enough to take on existing TV viewing habits. And that glue can only be our insatiable passion for wholesome entertainment. This is precisely why the DLF IPL broadcast has been positioned as the definitive and ultimate entertainment destination for those 44 days when the League is in progress.”

The film has been directed by Rajesh Krishnan of Soda Films. The campaign will be aired extensively on television – on SET Network channels as well as other General Entertainment, News, Music and Regional channels across India. The campaign will also run on Radio, Cinema, Outdoor and on the Internet. Max will also promote DLF IPL in 150 towns through on-ground activities.

The Indian Premier League will be telecast in North America, Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean by Willow TV who have acquired the rights for television, radio, broadband and internet.
SET and World Sports Group (WSG) won the IPL broadcast rights for $1.03 billion. Sony will telecast IPL matches in the Indian sub-continent and WSG will explore the international market.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla confirmed the deal saying, “Pepsi has been signed as the official drink sponsor of the upcoming IPL and the deal has been closed.”

PepsiCo has been associated with cricket, domestic and international, for a long while now. Pepsico is already a global sponsor of the International Cricket Council (ICC) till 2015 having pledged $60 million to it.

As of now, the main sponsor of IPL is DLF, which will shell out Rs 200 crore over the next five years. Hero Honda has extended its IPL sponsorship for five years.

IPL plans to acquire five other sponsors, from areas such as insurance, banking, telecom, automobile and retail.

The IPL Twenty20 tournament matches will start from April 18, 2008. The tournament will comprise 59 matches that will be played over 45 days.

Meanwhile, advertising rates for the IPL Twenty 20 tournament are soaring off the charts. SET Max, IPL’s official TV channel has completed 75% of its slot for rates that were prevalent during the last World Cup. SET Max is optimistic that it will collect Rs 300 crore in revenues for the IPL Twenty20 Tournament. It has already pencilled in commitments worth Rs 220 crore.

The presenting sponsor of the IPL Twenty20 tournament is Vodafone, which has shelled out Rs 32-35 crore. Four other co-sponsors include Coca Cola, Max New York, Hyundai and Godrej for a sum in the range of of Rs 18-25 crore.

The DLF IPL premier league’s associate sponsors are Pepsico India , Hyundai and Nokia, as Sony Entertainment Television aims to rake in1.7 billion rupees from the deal, media reports said.

Sony is also in talks with various corporates including ICICI, UB , Future Group, ITC , TVS and Hero Honda, hoping to rope in at least one more premier sponsor and six associate ones.

Sony and World Sports Group won the television rights by paying about 41 billion rupees, with Sony getting rights for Indian sub continent and the rest of the world going to World Sports Group.

The IPL begins on April 18 and will be held with a view on prime time television audience in India.