Twenty First Century Media appoints Basant Dhawan as Chief Executive officer

Twenty First Century Media (TCM), a full service sports marketing and management company, has appointed Basant Dhawan as Chief Executive officer.

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Dhawan will be responsible for leading all the existing business verticals of TCM — sports consultancy, domestic league rights, in-stadia rights, athlete representation, sponsorship management, event operations, etc. Additionally, he will be developing and implementing sports content strategies and drive other new business lines for TCM across domestic and international markets.

“As a company with expertise in providing wholistic 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, Managing Director, TCM.

TCM holds exclusive ground rights across various cricket stadia in India and globally. Outside India, TCM holds the exclusive naming, sponsorship, in-stadia rights across New Zealand cricket, Cricket West Indies and Asia Cup tournaments (Asian Cricket Council). Besides this, TCM has on-ground partnerships with cricket boards of South Africa, Bangladesh, England and Australia.

Dhawan said, “I am excited to be back in the sports industry after my previous stint as CEO of business and English news channels at Network 18. 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 and is unique in terms of its services.  It is continuously helping right holders and brands to leverage sports for driving business and marketing needs. It is further looking at new sporting opportunities in line with the demand and changing consumption of today’s sports fan.”  

Dhawan has a management degree from IIM Calcutta, and comes with an experience of over two decades with leadership roles across industries — media and entertainment, telecom, auto, etc.

Prior to his recent stint with CNN News 18 and CNBC TV 18 as CEO, Dhawan was with Star Sports as SVP and Head Emerging Sports. He was part of the team that has delivered the new domestic leagues to India — Pro Kabaddi, Indian Super League, Premier Badminton league etc., besides establishing premium sports like English Premier League, Grand slams for Indian viewer.

Before Star Sports, Basant was with Vodafone India where he successfully 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.

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