Rajasthan Royals launches slew of contests for fans

Rajasthan Royals (RR), the Emerging Media owned Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, which already has the oomph factor with actor Shilpa Shetty, now aims to further enhance the X-factor and is organising a nationwide contest to hunt for 'the face of Rajasthan Royals', called the Royals Diva.

In partnership with SMS GupShup, the winner of Season 1 of IPL had recently launched a mobile community. Now, taking it forward, the franchise has introduced a slew of contests for the team's fans. Though the contests will be run nationwide, they will have a special thrust in Rajasthan and Gujarat, which is the catchment area of the team.

SMS GupShup is the team's SMS, WAP and web community platform partner. Through the mobile community, fans can participate on a real-time basis in quizzes, contests, games and win interesting prizes.

Talking to afaqs! about the contests, Utkarsh Singh, business development head, Rajasthan Royals, says, “Royals Diva will give an opportunity to our fans to be a part of the Royals family on a personal level. Shilpa, who is a strategic business partner, will be a part of the off-field activities and provide her creative inputs to the innovations in the team.”

He adds, “All these initiatives are strategic, with a view to enable an army of supporters to uniquely connect with the team and the RR brand. This should help us engage with the fans and be in direct touch with our fans in India and globally.”

Royals Diva is a nationwide hunt, whereas the remaining contests focus on fans in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Some contests have terms and conditions such as age limits and limitations on the number of winners. For example, in Toss Ka Boss, only one winner will be selected per match.

The Royals Diva contest is targeted at women in the age group of 18-22 years. The winner will be selected by Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty and will be featured in the Halla Bol video. The winner will also lead the cheerleading squad of the team during the matches.

Kaptano ke Kaptan is a hunt for the official off-the-field cheerleading team. About 105 off-the-field cheerleaders will be selected from Rajasthan and Gujarat, who are also the members of the Royal Lions Club. “They will not dance on the fields but they will sit in the captain's lounge and wear the T-shirts of Rajasthan Royals,” informs Utkarsh.

About 140 ball boys in the age group of 12 -16 years will be selected for the Boundary ke Baadshah contest. In each match, 20 boys will get a chance to catch the ball whenever a RR player hits a boundary. The Toss ka Boss winner will get a chance to accompany Shane Warne for the toss before the matches. The participants for this contest will be in the 6-10 years age group, who will be selected from various schools in Rajasthan and Gujarat, based on their performances in the activities conducted in the schools.

Googly-Shugly, which is a trivia contest on radio, will hand out about 150 tickets of the RR matches to the callers who correctly answer six rapid-fire questions on the team.

In an official statement, Raghu Iyer, chief marketing officer, Rajasthan Royals, says, “It’s an innovative way to provide fans a tangible opportunity to be a part of the Royals family and also a platform to express their support for the team. Since the opening ceremony will be held in Jaipur, no true Royals fan would want to miss the high voltage action.”