New Delhi:
The Commonwealth Games have high quality official merchandise, but it is all lying locked up.
Now, with the losses mounting day by day, Premier Brands, the official merchandising and licensing partner of the games is contemplating a pull out. Company chairman Suresh Kumar who is not willing to come on camera says he has given the Organising Committee of the Games till the middle of this week to get the paperwork in order.
The contract to produce the merchandise was signed as late as May 19 this year with a minimum guarantee fee of Rs 5.2 crore. The launch was originally scheduled for June 24 when the Queen's Baton Relay entered India through the Wagah Border. Had that happened, Mr Kumar says goods worth Rs 25 crore would have been sold already. But with not a mug or a t-shirt on sale yet, Premier Brands say they are losing as much as Rs one crore everyday.
So a projected revenue of Rs 100 crore has been whittled down to about Rs 20 crore according to the company. A website was one of the many ways the merchandise was to have been sold. There were also plans for 70 outlets across the Games venues and almost 200 stores across shopping malls, metro stations and the airport, but it is slowly coming to naught.
It really seems to be a case of the Organising Committee hitting the axe on their own foot. Not only has this unprofessional attitude not gone down well with the corporates, their lack of imagination has too. For instance, Premier Brands printed a lakh of postcards, to distribute free in schools - a good way to publicise the Games, but the organisers objected even to that.
Compare that to the Beijing Olympics where merchandising sales started almost three years before the Games, or the London 2012 Olympics whose flagship store and online sales have started with two whole years to go.
Merchandise sale for the Commonwealth Games could have started without an official launch, however there is an additional complication. Sports Marketing and Management Company (SMAM) which brought in the merchandising deal is now locked in a court case with the Organising Committee of the games after their contract was terminated.