AIFF and IMG-Reliance partnership on the rocks - report
25 Sep 2012
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has signed a television rights deal for domestic cup competition the Federation Cup with public-service broadcaster Doordarshan, with the agreement placing further strain on its relationship with commercial partner IMG-Reliance.
The Hindu newspaper said the new deal was the latest evidence of unease between the Federation and IMG-Reliance – a development which has led the AIFF to consider activating an exit clause in the contract in order to seek a new commercial partner. The Federation is reportedly unhappy with IMG-Reliance’s efforts to market its competitions and believes not enough money is being generated.
IMG-Reliance originally signed a deal for the rights for the Federation Cup and the I-League with pay-television broadcaster Ten Sports. Ten later withdrew from the agreement and IMG-Reliance has so far failed to find a replacement. “It is quite intriguing that a big company with wide experience of hosting major events cannot generate enough revenue for football in a country which is considered the biggest market of the sport by the world body FIFA,” a senior AIFF official told The Hindu.
The AIFF and IMG-Reliance, a sports and media joint venture between the IMG agency and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, are currently engaged in the second year of a 15-year media and marketing rights deal.
