Twenty First Century Media (TCM), India’s premier sports marketing and management company, has appointed Basant Dhawan as its chief executive officer.
Dhawan, who recently quit as CEO of English news channels at Network18, will be responsible for leading all the existing business verticals of TCM – sports consultancy, domestic league rights, in-stadia rights, athlete representation, sponsorship management, and event operations. He will also develop and implement sports content strategies and drive new business lines for TCM across domestic and international markets.
“As a company with expertise in providing holistic solutions to sports marketing and management, Basant’s deep knowledge as a leader in running broadcast business, creating and managing Sports IPs with rich experience across functions will help us to further scale up and diversify our businesses,” said Lokesh Sharma, MD, TCM.
The sports marketing firm holds exclusive ground rights across various cricket stadia in India and globally. Outside India, TCM holds the exclusive naming, sponsorship and in-stadia rights across New Zealand Cricket, Cricket West Indies, and Asia Cup tournaments (Asian Cricket Council). TCM also has on-ground partnerships with cricket boards of South Africa, Bangladesh, England and Australia.
“I am excited to be back in the sports industry,” said Dhawan, who served at Star Sports as SVP and head of Emerging Sports prior to his stint at Network18. “I look forward to contributing towards TCM’s vision of establishing itself as a leader in the sports marketing and management in India and internationally.”
TCM has been in the sports business for close to three decades. It has been working with right holders and brands to leverage sports for driving business and marketing needs. Dhawan, an alumnus of IIM Calcutta, comes with over two decades of experience with leadership roles across Media & Entertainment, Telecom, and Auto.
At Star Sports, he was part of the team that delivered the new domestic leagues including Pro Kabaddi, Indian Super League and Premier Badminton league.
Prior to that, he was with Vodafone India, where he managed its brand sponsorship of the IPL and created activation IPs like Vodafone Superfan and the Zoo Zoos IPL campaigns. He headed the Media function as General Manager.
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
#TCM #Cricketnews #BasantDhawan
