Western Union signs three-year contract with ESPN STAR Sports

Mumbai: Western Union Financial Services Inc, today announced a three year contract with sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports to sponsor two premier hockey league teams — Sher-e-Jalandhar and Chandigarh Dynamos — at the Premier Hockey League (PHL). The league series are currently being played out at Hyderabad''s state-of-the-art, floodlit Gachibowli stadium.

PHL is a collaboration between the IHF, ESPN STAR Sports and Leisure Sports Management (LSM) with total prize money of Rs 71 lakh. ESPN STAR Sports is marketing, producing and broadcasting PHL for the next ten years.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajiv Garodia, regional marketing manager, South Asia, Western Union, said, "Through this sponsorship of the Punjab hockey teams, we endeavour to create awareness and encourage the game among the Indians all over the country and lift the profile of the Punjabis in the game to even greater heights."

Himanshu Verma, director, corporate communications and event management group, ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd., said, "The high scoring exciting matches are bound to attract more crowds to PHL as we go along. Judging from the first year''s response, we are confident that the PHL will become the most awaited event in India''s sports calendar."

Western Union is launching a national-level marketing multimedia campaign, comprising press, television and merchandising, to promote the two teams.

Western Union recently conducted a ''Live Money Transfer'' from Italy to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to demonstrate the speed and ease with which money can be transferred from anywhere in the world.

PHL will offer. The winner of the Tier I will take home Rs. 30 lakh while the runners up will carry Rs 10 lakh. The winner of Tier II will get Rs 4 lakh while the runner up will receive Rs 2.5 lakh. Allocation of above prizes between players and the respective associations shall be specified by IHF.