By ASHWIN PINTO
Indiantelevision.com Team

(2 May 2006 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Keeping in line with its promise to promote football and make the last phase of ONGC Cup 10th National Football League (NFL) more interactive and rewarding Zee Sports is launching a Football Happy Hours contest.

As the name suggests this contest aims to incentives interest in the game through the contest conducted on ground and on air. The partners for the initiative include LG, SOTC, Intex and Speedo.

The prize is an all expense paid trip to Germany to watch the Fifa World Cup (which will air in India on arch rival ESPN Star Sports). The contest has been sponsored by SOTC Sport Abroad.

Other prizes of the contest are a DVD player by Intex, a LG television set and Sun Glasses by Speedo. The contest will close on 23 May.

To participate in the Football Happy Hours Contest the viewers will have to watch ONGC Cup National Football League matches between 6:30 pm - 8:45 pm on all the match days. A question will be asked in this time slot as a part of a special Happy Hour segment. This question and the answer choice will be repeated throughout the match in the form of a scroll and pop-up’s.

The viewer has to SMS the correct answer to 7575. To be eligible for mega prize, viewers will have to give correct answer to minimum three correct answers. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com on the initiative Zee Sports marketing VP Gaurav Seth says, “To promote the contest Zee Sports is undertaking a marketing campaign which involve all the three elements - on air, off air and online.

"Football is by far the most popular sport worldwide, and our programming and contest dedicated to the ONGC Cup National Football League will inspire viewers to play, watch and learn in a sporty environment that only Zee Sports can offer. The contest will scale new heights in interactivity.

"The synergy and integration of this contest, both on and off air, will given an unprecedented opportunity to connect with our target audiences in an innovative way, while bringing football to a new level of enjoyment.”

To promote the contest on ground Zee Sports has tied up with Barista. The promotion will be conducted at various Barista outlets in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Bangalore simultaneously. The winner of the contest will be declared after the last ONGC Cup NFL game.

For the NFL Zee Sports has ONGC, National Insurance Company, Indian, Airtel, Tata Tiscon, Khadim’s, Coco- Cola, DS Group, and West Bengal IT Department among others as broadcast and on ground sponsors.