Soccer may finally be making some major inroads onto a vast market that has long spurned it in favor of a sport involving a bat and a ball: India, that country's
Telegraph newspaper reports.
While it is unlikely to replace cricket anytime soon, expectations are for 75 percent ad revenue growth for the World Cup tournament, which kicks off June 9. "There has been an unusual revival of
interest in football across the country. The World Cup has always been big; but this time it is bigger. Some of the biggest ad spenders have planned [large] campaigns around the tournament," says
Deven Deshpande, brand manager, TAM Media Research. About 75 million Indians watched the World Cup last time around and an ESPN India executive tells the paper they are looking for that to grow to
at least 100 million for the 2006 edition.
advertisement
advertisement
Read the whole story at Indian Telegraph »
