High hopes from 'Mickey Cricket' with Mumbai Indians' support

Walt Disney Company, consumer product retailing arm of global animation giant and Mukesh Ambani-owned IPL team Mumbai Indians are expecting a revenue of Rs 14 crore from the limited edition 'Mickey Cricket', a company official has said.

Disney and the Indian Premier League team Mumbai Indians have launched a collection that includes apparel and accessories, footwear, stationery, home and toys, all featuring Disney's five famous characters -- Mickey Mouse, Mini Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and pluto -- in cricketing attire.

"It is called Mickey Cricket and we have launched it for the first time in association with Mumbai Indians. So it is a co-branded product. It is a licensing agreement but since it is a co-branded one, we have a revenue sharing agreement."

"It is an equal partnership that we have (with Mumbai Indians)," The Walt Disney Company India Vice-President Consumer Products and Retail Roshini Bakshi told PTI here.

"We want to get the fans to get the best of Mickey and obviously Sachin (Tendulkar), who is another superhero. So it is a great association," she said.

On the revenue expectation, Bakshi said, "It is about Rs 12-14 crore to start with, but it is a much longer association. It will contribute a very small per cent to our revenues."

According to media reports, last year Mumbai Indians recorded a retail revenue of Rs 5-6 crore and the owners hope to double this figure in the fifth edition of the IPL.

The merchandise includes T-shirts, bats, balls, caps, gloves, bags, mugs and stickers and will be available for two months, during the IPL season 5 and is aimed at the age bracket of 4-14 years, especially boys.

The market size in licensing in the 4-14 years age group is estimated to be Rs 1,400 crore.