Retiring cricketer Stephen Fleming is forming a New Zealand sports and marketing company in partnership with his managers at Insite Australia.
Fleming, who said yesterday that he was leaving NZ cricket for a three-year contract playing for the Indian Premier League, said the Insite New Zealand business wasfor "life after cricket".
Initially, Insite New Zealand would focus on use of Insite's Australasian rights to proprietary interactive software that could be used for publishing.
Like the Australian company, Insite New Zealand would match companies with sportspeople for commercial, marketing and public relations opportunities. New Zealand sportspeople were an obvious early port of call.
Fleming had already approached Black Caps for a relationship with his firm.
They included captain Daniel Vettori - who Fleming said was "top real estate" in sports-marketing terms.
"But they told me to bugger off," Fleming said with a laugh.
He also saw business prospects through contacts in the Indian league, through Indians' love of cricket.
Fleming - who trained as a physical education teacher prior to his sports career - has been with Insite Australia for seven years.
Through Insite he has fronted TV advertising campaigns for Fujitsu heat pumps and Rexona antiperspirant. He also has a commercial relationship with real estate firm LJ Hooker.
Fleming said leadership experience from cricket would help his business career.
"It is going to be hard work for the first couple of years. I'm certainly not going to preach that I am going to be a good businessman."
