Airtel dials Manchester United for exclusive content

Between speed and perfection choose speed. – Sunil Mittal

Airtel, India’s top telecom company has signed a multi-million dollar deal with Manchester United for providing exclusive Man U content on Airtel mobiles. The exact amount is not disclosed but the contract will span for 5 years.

Bharti  Airtel is inching towards the 100 million subscriber mark and this partnership could not come up at a better time.  With more than 10 players in the competition everyone is trying reach the next 100 million. Many new players are coming up very fast and differentiation is the key to stay alive.

Add to that the impending number portability, you really have to depend a lot on brand, network and connectivity and most importantly the value added services. That’s exactly what Airtel is concentrating on and this deal solidifies Airtel’s position.

Bharti Airtel, which had last year announced its plans of setting up a football academy at an investment of Rs 100 crore with the aim of making India eligible for the World Cup 2018, is the first Indian company to sign such an exclusive deal with Manchester United.    

As part of the deal, Airtel will be able to bring to its customers rich and exclusive content such as video clips of matches, classic goals and highlights of games of MUC. (Business Standard)

This deal is especially important for 2 reasons. The first is the much needed diversion from Cricket or the overdose of it. Signing a deal with the world’s premier football league is something which we cannot expect from a Indian telecom player. But, we are not talking about any telecom player but a globally recognized brand. From Airtel we can expect these things. Now, you have one more reason to follow a different sport.

The second reason is, there has been many news/rumors about a possible India link with the English Premier League. Sahara Group, Anil Ambani group and GMR are the 3 groups which were in the news for a possible buyout or a sponsorship deal. But, nothing materialized. Airtel’s is possible the first deal which has materialized.

This is where I would like to point out to a YouTube video of Sunil Mittal about entrepreneurship. He points out about his love for football and how it should be bigger sport in India than it already is. You can forward to 12:35 segment to know what Mittal has to say about football. I would recommend watching the whole thing. Most of what Airtel do fits what Mittal has said in this interview.

As per Mittal it is a shame that India does not have a football representation. It indeed is. Cricket takes the center stage and it is time we have an alternative sport. For India to be eligible for World Cup 2018, we need a revolution.

May be Mittal should hire Lalit Modi.