Nazara signs exclusive deal with Tendulkar

Mumbai-based Nazara Technologies, in a first of its kind deal, has signed a worldwide exclusive deal with Sachin Tendulkar to develop a wide range of mobile phone content based on him.

The three-year deal is probably the biggest such brand licensing agreement that has taken place in Asia-Pacific for mobile content and is a signal to the kind of growth expected in the mobile content industry in India over the next few years.

Thanks to this deal, Nazara gets an exclusive licence to develop mobile content on Tendulkar, using his likeness and name, and distribute it worldwide. The company will distribute the content to mobile operators who, in turn, will market it.

According to Nitish Mittersain, CEO of Nazara, “We are very excited about the opportunity presented by the mobile content industry and its expected growth over the next few years as well as our association with Sachin who is cricket’s biggest ambassador not only in India but also across the world. We look forward to bringing fun products based on Sachin to millions of mobile phone users in the coming months.”

"We expect strong demand from mobile operators, considering Tendulkar's brand recognition and image. We are already in discussions with operators in the UK for a major launch in their market with Tendulkar's games, based on cutting-edge mobile technology." The US was also a huge market with over 2 million Indians, a targeted consumer base, he added.

The product line up will include games, wallpapers, screensavers, themes, SMS trivia, the latest news on Tendulkar and mobile communities based on him.

Marketing tie-ups were being negotiated worldwide specifically for the Tendulkar content, though the company already has a distribution network with mobile operators globally.

In India, the Tendulkar mobile phone game are expected to be priced at about Rs 100 and wallpapers for phones at Rs 10 each.

Nazara is a mobile content developer/publisher and works with all mobile operators in India as well as several mobile operators worldwide. The company develops mobile entertainment products including games based on well known brands and distributes these products to millions of mobile phone users.

Nazara is founded by 24-year-old Nitish Mittersain, who has been actively involved with the IT industry for the last several years. He has been the recipient of several awards and has also held the post of co-Chairman of the National IT committee at the Indian Merchants Chamber in recent years.

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