Upstart businesses in India's "booming" e-commerce sector will open a new front in its battle for customers over the next two months -- by "going head to head as backers of the glitzy" annual Indian Premier League cricket tournament, according to James Crabtree of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Buoyed by a recent influx of venture funding, a series of fast-growing e-commerce groups have "signed up to become sponsors or advertisers during the lucrative IPL event." U.S.-based Amazon and Indian mobile commerce company Paytm, which recently agreed to a $500M investment deal with China’s Alibaba, have "struck official sponsor deals" with Sony, the event's main broadcaster. Other e-commerce companies also "plan to run advertising campaigns during the tournament," including CarTrade, Magicbricks and Snapdeal. Other global technology groups, such as the taxi-hailing app Uber, have "struck deals with individual cricket teams." Despite a "string of corruption scandals and management bust-ups," the eight-team IPL has "consistently attracted global brands as sponsors since its launch" in '08, including a $65M deal with PepsiCo in '12. Rohit Gupta, president of Sony's parent, Multi Screen Media, said that this year's e-commerce companies "will contribute" as much as a quarter of the Rs 9.5B ($152M) Sony "expects to earn from advertising during the 47-day event" (FT, 4/7).
