Sunday, December 2, 2012

Super Rich BCCI

When Pepsi doubled the IPL sponsorship amount that DLF had paid for 2008- 12, the world's richest cricket body showed why it has become a Rs.3,300- crore entity.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is among the few fortunate entities for which the word 'recession' does not exist. Even when the recession was at its peak a few years ago, the Board's net surplus never went below Rs.50 crore.

This is just one example of how the cricket business has become immune to economic turbulence. Take another example - a recent one. The title sponsorship of the Indian Premier League (IPL) fetched the BCCI almost double the amount it had received in 2008 for the five- year deal. Infrastructure giant DLF had paid Rs.200 crore for the prestigious 'suffix' the tournament name - it was called the DLF IPL. A few days ago Pepsi pledged Rs.396.8 crore in bid for the 2013- 2017 deal.

Yet another sign of the BCCI's income ballooning 10 times in its net surplus in last 10 years. In 2001- 02, it made Rs.33.50 crore; the figure went to 382.36 crore in 2011-12.

This was, however, not always the case with BCCI. Till the early 1990s, its balance sheet used be often in the red. The scenario changed dramatically with the arrival of foreign sports channels in the country. In 1993, to be precise - when the I. S. Bindra- Jagmohan Dalmiya combine signed a 600,000 deal for the India- England Test series at home.

That was the biggest turning point in the history of Indian cricket telecast. And with it the monopoly that Doordarshan enjoyed - it used to charge the BCCI for telecasting matches, instead of paying for it - came to end, opening a brand new avenue of income for the world's richest cricket body. Bindra and Dalmiya may have parted ways for yet- to- be- explained reason, the constant flow of big money into BCCI coffers hasn't stopped since then.

Media rights, generally called telecast rights, are just one source of income. IPL is another. In 2011- 12, IPL was the biggest income source. In BCCI's gross income of 849.44 crore, IPL's share was Rs.265.14 crore. The other major sources were the income from tours (or series), which fetched Rs.213.45 crore, and media rights, which contributed 118.24 crore.

Interest from fixed and other bank deposits is yet another fertile source. In 2011- 12, the BCCI Rs.97.47 crore as interest. A lesser known but handsome supply line has been the Board's share in International Cricket Council tournaments. Last year, thanks to the World Cup, it was 62.65 crore.

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