UFO Movies to show live IPL matches in theatres, aims to garner Rs 60 crore revenue in first year
By Purna Parmar
Thursday, March 11, 2010
 UFO Movies, the flagship company of Valuable Group along with Crown Infotainment another company founded by the Valuable Group, will have show live matches of IPL season 3 at over 1,000 screens across India. The new initiative has been christened UFO T20 Hungama Carnival.
UFO plans to replicate the stadium frenzy for the match goers in the theatres. To provide unique entertainment value and keep the IPL magic alive within cinema halls, a carnival and a stadium like atmosphere will be created across select screens nationally. The theatres will have cricket related merchandise, gifts; multi cuisine food to cater to the entire family. A number of screening places will have cheer leaders and live bands.
A ‘Cinema Jockey’ will anchor various interactive activities in the foyer with a range of contests being held from time to time and the winners of these contests being flashed on screens across different theatres nationally.
Theatres are also expected to create tailor made season tickets in various combinations for their prospective viewers. UFO Moviez has entered in a strategic alliance with multiples chains like Cinemax, INOX, Fame, PVR and others and also partnered with single screen theatres for screening the IPL matches starting from March 12, 2010. UFO Moviez is handling the techo-commercial aspects of screening IPL matches in India.
UFO, which has more than 1,750 digital screens across India has tied up with Crown Infotainment, who holds the distribution rights for the IPL for ten years (2010 – 2019), to introduce IPL matches in theatres. The company had won the theatrical rights for IPL recently for Rs 330 crore. Till date the company has signed over 650 screens, of which close to over 200 are multiplexes.
“The IPL has caught the frenzy of people in India. We are proud to introduce this concept of bringing live IPL matches across Indian theatres. We have got into strategic alliances with multiplexes and single screen cinemas across the country including Tier 2 and 3 cities. As no major Bollywood films will be released during IPL, this will serve as the profitable alternate revenue generating entertainment content for exhibitors. The high Definition format of IPL matches which means better quality and more content on screen, that too without interrupting playtime with ads will be an ‘out of the world’ viewing experience for the patrons,” says Sanjay Gaikwad, Managing Director – UFO Movies India Ltd.
Speaking on the expected revenue the company plans to recover Gaikwad opines, “We have a 50 per cent revenue share with the exhibitors. The box office revenue, keeping in mind the kind of viewer enquiry we have had is expected to be Rs 40 to 50 crore in box office collection, in the first year. We are also looking at advertisement sponsors and that revenue would be another Rs 15 to 20 crore. So effectively, we except to generate approximately Rs 60 to 70 crore gross revenue in the first year. The rates for tickets will be around Rs 150 which is the normal multiplex weekend rate while for the semi finals and the final matches would be charged a premium. While for the single screen the ticket price will be around Rs. 40 to 50 so the ticket prices will not undergo a major change.”
The company has already garnered sponsors like Ford Figo as their main sponsor, while associate sponsors include Hero Honda, Tata Photon, Union Bank and Samsung. The company has also partnered with on-ground sponsors such as Fosters, Provogue and Thane Janata Sahakari Bank for the event.
“The value of brand IPL has moved from Rs 0.1 billion last year to Rs 4.7 billion this year. Moreover, the matches are being played only in 12 cities and thus reach of the game is limited only to people in those cities. So we thought if you can’t go to the stadium why don’t we bring the stadium-like environment to you. And hence we came up with the concept of having IPL matches in cinemas across the country through our network of theatres,” adds, Kapil Agrawal, Jt. Managing Director – UFO Moviez India Ltd.
The company plans to launch a 360 degree marketing plan to create awareness about this new venture. They plan to have educational programs for potential viewers through their new campaign called “IPL Dekhneke Funde” meanwhile an OOH campaign is also on the cards. The company also plans to have street plays to educate people on how to watch an IPL match and create awareness along with their partnership with Red FM.
“We are spending close to around Rs 10 lakh (per location) at our active locations where we have created a stadium like atmosphere like having cheer leaders and Cinema Jockeys, while our total investment on the marketing as well as on ground activities is close to around Rs 20 crore,” shares Gaikwad.
The company also plans to expand its footprint in the years to come. They also claim to have requests coming in from theatre owners to add more screens to showcase the cricketing carnival ‘The IPL’. It would be interesting to see how the company manages to garner revenue through its box office as well as on-ground partners as the hype for the IPL is already heating up.
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