New Delhi: Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket franchise Delhi Daredevils will open a sports bar at the Capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport in a move to diversify its revenue base—the first such venture by an IPL team.
Diversification plan: Delhi Daredevils team celebrate their victory in an Indian Premier League Twenty20 match in Durban in May. Saeed Khan/AFP
The bar will be located at the airport’s expansive new Terminal 3, according to B. Vanchi, director, GMR Sports Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of GMR Holdings Ltd that owns the Delhi franchise and is a majority stakeholder in airport operator Delhi International Airport Pvt. Ltd, or DIAL.
For the venture, GMR has entered into a seven-year licensing arrangement with Ravi Jaipuria-promoted Devyani International Ltd, a bottling and hospitality company that has brought international chains such as Costa Coffee, Pizza Hut and KFC to India.
The Devyani Group is already part of a food and beverage joint venture with DIAL.
“The sports bar is a result of a need to start a business that is not directly related to cricket or IPL but is a logical offshoot to extend our revenue generation streams,” said Amrit Mathur, chief executive of Delhi Daredevils.
The revenue from the bar will be shared between Devyani Group and GMR Sports, but Mathur declined to disclose the arrangement or the percentage share. Devyani International remained tight-lipped about the venture. “It’s too early to disclose any details,” said Viraj Joshi, chief executive of the group.
The swanky new terminal, spread over 5 million sq. ft, is expected to be ready by July, and the Delhi Daredevils bar will open soon after that. “Our aim is to launch the bar before the Commonwealth Games in October so that we can leverage the high traffic the terminal will receive then,” said Mathur.
Delhi Daredevils is the first among the eight existing IPL franchises to venture into the hospitality sector. Some other teams are toying with the concept.
“It (food and drink outlet) would add a lot of value to the team,” said V. Shankar, chairman, Deccan Chargers. “It is something we will look at in the next year or two.”
Added Rakesh Singh, marketing head of Chennai SuperKings, “We have been discussing the idea of launching a sports cafe through a licensing arrangement. But nothing is finalized as yet. We are still at the discussion stage.”
The team already has a merchandising partnership with coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day.
In an earlier interview with Mint, IPL’s chief executive officer Sundar Raman also discussed plans to launch a bar or cafe around the IPL theme.
Talking about possible licensing deals, Raman said, “There are multiple players we are looking at tying up with. It could be real estate licensing or club and bar licensing.”
Rasul Bailay contributed to this story.
priyanka.m@livemint.com