MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League (IPL) has announced that Yog Sports, a sports marketing and distribution company that provides international quality merchandise for premier sporting events, has signed a 10-year exclusive deal with the league.
As part of this partnership, Yog Sports will be the League’s “Official Merchandise Distribution Partner”. Yog will have the exclusive rights to distribute all official merchandise branded with the DLF-IPL brand and all the eight teams included as part of the League.
The proposed merchandise distributed by Yog Sports will include a wide product range including Apparel – T-shirts, Jerseys & Caps; Accessories – Key chains, Wrist bands, Bags and Match day cheering items like flags, cheering sticks, trumpets, and much more. These would also include products from the catalogue of the teams’ official kit sponsors which are Reebok, Adidas and Puma.
Yog has been given the rights to set up IPL Match Stores inside stadiums, multiplexes, malls, high streets, airports, railway stations, metro stations, and other public locations where live IPL matches will be screened.
IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi said, “Official merchandise is an integral part of any global sporting league, as it helps enhance fans participation and team loyalties. Together with Yog Sports we have defined a collaborative strategy to ensure that IPL fans get access to authentic team merchandis. Yog Sports will now work towards ensuring the highest quality standard for all IPL merchandise and through their robust distribution network will attempt to reach out to fans even outside the stadia and across India.”
Yog Sports director Saumitra Srivastava said, “Yog Sports is pleased to partner with IPL as the exclusive merchandise partner for IPL, and aims to bring to IPL fans, a best-in-breed international merchandise experience, both in terms of quality, choice & value-for-money, and to complement the game changer IPL has proven to be in the world of cricket, sport and entertainment.”
The IPL 2010 will be the first year of operations for Yog Sports as a concessionaire of the IPL. For this year, Yog Sports is setting up 200 retail stores across 12 cities wherever the matches are being held. The company plans to scale up its operations taking its merchandise retail footprint to 1,000 stores in Year 10.
Yog Sports is also the exclusive supplier of official merchandise to the IPL Online Match Store, which is available on www.iplt20.com.
