MUMBAI: India Cements-owned IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings has earned a revenue of Rs 1.4 billion in the previous edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and is targeting a 15-20 per cent growth from season 5 of the cash rich league.

According to India Cements Joint President marketing Rakesh Singh, the franchise had clocked revenues of Rs 1.4 billion from sponsorship, ticketing and share of central revenue pool comprising ground sponsorship and broadcast rights.

The team has long-term deals with telco Aircel and lubricants brand Gulf Oil, two of its main sponsors, while Amrapali Group, Reebok, Pepsi, Coromandel King, Hercules, Mansion House, and The Hindu are other sponsors on board.

Speaking to official CSK website, Team owner Gurunath Meiyappan said the team has been getting encouraging response from sponsors due to its on-field performance.

?We are proud that most of our sponsors have been with us for almost all seasons. We are very happy that we are the only team whose principal sponsor, Aircel, has been constant from Season 1 of the Championship,? he said.

?Aircel, Gulf Oil, Life OK, Amrapalli, Washington Apple, TI Cycles, Mansion House, Universal and Reebok are our other sponsors. We also have tie-ups and associations with The Hindu, Caf? Coffee day and Hello FM. Our sponsorship rates have always increased year on year reflecting the success the team has been getting on-field.?

Some of the recent sponsors to come on board are Life OK channel and Washington Apples as the official fruit partner of the team.

However, it?s not just the sponsorship revenue that the franchise is banking on; it is also looking at merchandising, a revenue stream which has largely remained untapped unlike the West where it is a major revenue contributor for major clubs.

CSK plans to launch an entire range of apparel at various price points across 380 outlets in Tamil Nadu and is also opening a store at the Chennai airport soon. Additionally, all Reebok outlets will also be selling its merchandise.

Talking about the franchises marketing plans, Meiyappan said that the franchise began its marketing activities since January starting with the ?Yellow Card? membership. It is currently running a ?Name your Mascot? contest that has seen a huge number of entries.

?We began a focused drive to engage with our fans on Social Media platforms and that has given us stunning success. Our Facebook membership has crossed 1 million currently and we are hoping to make it 2 million by mid-season of IPL 5,? Meiyappan said.

He also revealed that the online ticket sales will begin 18 March.

As far as merchandise is concerned, the franchises is taking the first steps to move from being a sports based to a Lifestyle brand and is focusing on its signature team colour yellow as a first step. The franchise had earned Rs 35 million from merchandise last year.

?Based on wholesale prices, last season Reebok sold Rs 2.5 crores (Rs 25 million) of merchandise and Cool Maal, our official merchandise partner, sold Rs. 1 crore (Rs 10 million) worth of merchandise,? Meiyappan added.

Mumbai: Creating a sensation in electronic social media circles, Yahoo has sued Facebook over 10 patents that include methods and systems for advertising on the Web.

The lawsuit was filed in a San Jose, California Federal Court, on Monday and marked a major escalation of patent litigation that has already swept up the smartphone and tablet sectors and high-tech stalwarts such as Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Motorola Mobility
Holdings Inc.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of Facebook?s announcement of plans for an initial public offering that could value the company at about $100 billion.

According to Reuters report, Facebook spokesman Jonathan Thaw said Facebook learned of the lawsuit through the media. The report quoted him as saying: "We are disappointed that Yahoo, a longtime business partner of Facebook and a company that has substantially benefited from its association with Facebook, has decided to resort to
litigation.?

In reply, Yahoo said in an emailed statement that it is confident it will prevail. The statement quoted by Reuters said, "Unfortunately, the matter with Facebook remains unresolved and we are compelled to seek redress in federal court.?

It was reported that Yahoo was seeking licensing fees from Facebook over its patents and that other companies have already agreed to such licensing deals. Two of the 10 patents at issue are directly related to social networking technology. Most of these focus on online advertising, including methods for preventing "click fraud," as well as privacy and technology for customizing the information users see on a Web page.

A classic defense for companies targeted with patent claims is to threaten a countersuit using its own patents. But in this case Yahoo possesses far more patents than Facebook. According to a US government database, Yahoo has over 3,300 patents and published patent applications while in comparison Facebook has a mere 160.