Now Games Merchandise on Sale from tomorrow

There’s yet another deadline for the merchandise launch. Now, top sources in the organizing committee (OC) of Commonwealth Games 2010 say the Games merchandise will be available from September 2. The products will be available at the store being set up at the OC headquarters on Jai Singh road, opposite Jantar Mantar.

Said a senior OC official, ‘‘The launch has been earmarked for September 2, with the store offering around 25 types of various Games merchandise.’’ The earlier manufacturing company, Premier Brands is back, and is planning to set up a slew of stores before the Games start. Said Suresh Kumar of Premier Brands Limited (PBL), ‘‘In the beginning, we will start with the single store in the OC headquarters, as well as four mobile vans that will take the merchandise to the doorsteps.’’ The vans, which will visit schools, residential areas and shopping malls, will be offering a range of products — from T-shirts and mugs to key-chains, wrist bands, pens and several other memorabilia. The product prices will range from Rs 20-300. Kumar said no product will be priced more than Rs 300 in the first phase of the merchandise launch.

In the second phase, around 5-6 new stores will be set up in the next fortnight in various parts of the city for the sale of merchandise. On September 30, over 65 stores will be opened at all the venues for the sale of Games products, informed Kumar. Meanwhile, PBL also plans to launch a high-end range of products from September 15 for the foreign delegates and players. The products will be the same but of higher quality, and of a higher price range, said Kumar.

The royalty agreement between the OC and PBL remains the same, claimed OC officials, though ‘‘certain concessions’’ have been made to PBL for the late launch, admitted sources. Officials, however, were unwilling to talk about these discussions. Earlier this month, PBL had pulled out of the deal with the OC citing loss in revenue due to the delayed launch for merchandise.

Games T- Shirts, Caps and Other Merchandise in Market from July

From next month, expect to see the market flooded with T-shirts, pens and other merchandise sporting the Delhi Games 2010 logo.

As part of the organizing committee’s (OC) efforts towards revenue generation, licenses for sale of products associated with the Games have been given out. These products are scheduled to hit the market by next month, according to sources.

Said a senior OC official, ‘‘From T-shirts and jackets to mugs and fridge magnets, a whole range of products with the Games logo will be on sale from July.’’

The merchandising and licensing function is expected to be one of the main sources of revenue for the OC, which has got a loan of Rs 1,620 crore from the Central government for the Games. The OC expects to repay the loan with the revenue earned from sponsorship deals and TV rights.

However, till date, few big deals have been inked apart from those with Bajaj, Coca Cola and a handful of others. Said a senior OC official, ‘‘The licenses for Delhi Games merchandise however, should go a long way towards raking in the revenue.’’

Apart from products like caps and clothing accessories, the OC is also going to allow manufacturers to put the Games logo on wrist bands; umbrellas; key chains; generic items including stationary, collectible, sportswear, casual wear, kids and infant apparel, toys; lifestyle and luxury products; and cultural and handicraft items. Sources in OC say that it will also look into branding artwork, so that it can be a part of the merchandise that would be on offer.

The OC is also planning to tie up with individual groups or organizations for artwork that would be linked with the Games theme, officials said.

Incidentally, the licensing process has been in the works for a long time now. The OC had originally floated the merchandising RFP (request for proposal) in November 2009 to begin the licensing process early for starting generation of revenue. However, the tender was ultimately floated only in April this year. Interestingly, revenue generation by the OC has been under the scanner as not many big deals have been signed by the sports body for the upcoming Games.