IPL teams re-working budget, some advertisers may back out

New Delhi, Mar 25 (PTI) Faced with increased costs,
Indian Premier League teams and their sponsors are re-working
their budgets for the T20 cricket tournament, even as some
advertisers plan to drop out from the South Africa-bound
cricketing extravaganza.

"We are closely working with IPL and our sponsors on how
we should go about it. There would be huge increase in our
travel budget, but at the same time other expenses like
security would come down," Delhi Daredevils Marketing Head
Vidur Naik told PTI.

Asked if sponsors have backed out due to shifting of the
venue, he replied in the negative and said they were "still
committed to them and the team is hopeful that an arrangement
will be formulated very soon regarding the modification in
their budget".

Advertisers like electrical products maker Havells India
has, however, cancelled all on-ground activities, including
city promotion and brand campaigns and may even back out from
on-air promotions.

"We are re-evaluating the deal. There would not be much
impact financially, but we have missed opportunities to
execute our brand activities. So we are even considering if at
all we should participate in it (IPL)," Havells India
Marketing Head Vijay Narayanan said.

Last year's winners, Rajasthan Royals have already said
that they were disappointed with the shifting of venue but
would prefer to have the tournament elsewhere than not to have
it at all.

Other teams, like Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai
Indians, are tight-lipped. Industry sources, however, pointed
out that many of the teams are awaiting details from IPL
organisers before they finalise their plans.

Soft drinks major Coca Cola, which has tie-ups with Delhi
Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders, said the firm had no
plans to back out.

"We are committed to the IPL. Beyond that we do not want
to say anything," a Coca Cola India spokesperson said.

Car maker Hyundai Motor India Ltd, one of the official
partners of the tournament, said it would continue its
association with the tournament.

"We are continuing with our commitments with Sony and
there is no change in our status regarding IPL," an HMIL
official said refuting reports that the company had cut its
advertising budgets for IPL. PTI BSM
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