“Own a part of the Games” — that’s the slogan for the Commonwealth Games-related merchandise. Marketing the October 3 to 14 mega-event will be the Organising Committee’s main objective to generate the maximum revenue possible. With 91 days to go, sources within the OC claim that major sporting apparels brand have chosen not to associate themselves with the CWG.
Till date the only major sponsors for the event are Coca-Cola, Hero Honda, Air India, NTPC and Central Bank of India.
The licensing process has also been in the pipeline for a long time now. The OC had floated the merchandising RFP (Request for Proposal) in November last year. The tender was re-worked and floated again in April but is yet to be finalised.
The OC has received a loan in the tune of Rs 1,620 crore from the central government and expects to repay it from revenue generated from sponsorship deals, TV rights, ticket sales and merchandising. The organisers were planning to launch these products at the earliest, but “detailed merchandising programme will be rolled out in mid-July 2010,” the OC said.
“CWG Delhi will launch a wide range of items depicting the spirit and enthusiasm of the Games through CWG colours, designs, logo and the official mascot ‘Shera’. In the lead up to the Games, merchandise is a way for people to ‘Touch & Feel’ the Games before it arrives,” an OC release said.
Venue catering contract yet to be finalised with very few takers for the CWG so far, the organisers now have to rein in their expenses. After plenty of deliberation, Australia’s Delaware North along with Taj SATS bagged the master caterer’s contract for the Games Village.
“Caterers for other venues are still under serious consideration. Due to financial contraints, a different strategy is being planned,” the OC communicated to this newspaper.
The constant delays in venue construction as well as finalising other functional aspects like catering are not going to ease the burden.
“Ideally any good company needs sufficient time for a big project like this. If the infrastructure is in place it makes the job easier for the caterers, rather than starting from scratch. A shorter span of time in planning things will no doubt raise the costs,” a spokesperson of major catering enterprise said.
The 2006 Melbourne Games appointed Delaware North as their caterers but the deal was finalised a full year before the event.
With time running out for Delhi, the lack of vision and planning is getting apparent.