MUMBAI: Though there was just one bidder in fray and the sponsorship rights went for the base price, the BCCI said it was happy with the deal it struck with Star India Pvt Ltd and ESPN for all 13 home international fixtures till March 2014, considering the difficult economic times.
The Marketing Committee of the BCCI met at the Cricket Centre, Mumbai, earlier today, to receive the bids made for title sponsorship of International Series and Domestic Tournaments to be played in India in the 2013-14 season.
Bidders had the option of bidding for either the series between India and Australia, or the series between India and the West Indies, or both. The Marketing Committee awarded the Title Sponsorship Rights for all series to be played in India in the 2013-14 season to Star India Pvt. Ltd and ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd, at a fee of Rs 20 million per international match, a press statement said. The base price for buying rights for India's home fixtures had been set at Rs 20 million per match (Tests/ODIs/Twenty20 Internationals).
“The market situation is such that at one point of time we thought it will be very difficult to get the sponsorship considering the turmoil in the financial market. But we are very happy (with price),” Board Secretary Sanjay Patel told reporters after the BCCI’s Marketing Committee meeting here.
“We are pleased that Star and ESPN Group bid for both the series. That means Australia and West Indies (series) and the deal will be close to Rs 26 crore. Only one bid was there and the minimum bidding price (is what) they have accepted. “But we are happy they have included the Australia series also though it is starting within two or three days. Under the market situation, we are happy the deal has gone through and the entire series is covered,” Patel said. “The deal is always market driven. One has to be happy with the market situation. Rather than concentrating on less or more price, we should concentrate on what you are getting as per the market situation. We are quite happy that as per the market situation, the price is not bad.”
There was very low interest in taking over the cricket title sponsorship of the home series for the next six months, with market reports stating that mobile phone maker Micromax and broadcaster Star India emerging as the two likely candidates.
A senior executive from a leading media agency had said that he was not aware of anyone even picking up the contract to bid for the season, which has two international series currently scheduled during the period -- the seven-match ODI series and a T20 game between India and Australia, followed by two Tests and three ODIs against the West Indies.
Of most interest to potential bidders was the 200th Test of Sachin Tendulkar which will now be played in India after the BCCI carved out the series with West Indies. It had earlier been learnt that Star was likely to bid only for the West Indies series, as there is a provision to bid for individual ones. It looks like that they bid only for the WI tour, but got the rest as a bargain deal.
The newly constituted 26-member BCCI marketing committee headed by Amitabh Chaudhary met here today (Thursday) to decide on new title sponsors for the international matches organised in India for next six months.
The BCCI had invited new bids from corporate houses after existing series title sponsors - telecom major Airtel -decided against renewing their association with the Board.
The bids were for matches to be held from October 1 this year to March 31, 2014.
Airtel had won the sponsorship rights for all the three formats of the game for a period starting from September 1, 2010 to March 31, 2013 for a staggering Rs 33.3 million per game. Airtel had won the rights from sports management firm World Sports Group (WSG), which was not permitted to submit bids then. According to the deal, Airtel got to advertise its brands on prime spots at the grounds and even the stumps carried the company's brand name.
About 10 corporate houses, including major telecom brands like Idea and Aircel, and firms like Future Group, Hero Honda and Micromax, have usually been in the running for the sponsorship rights, but the recession and the high asking price has taken its toll.
Sponsorship rights will extend to domestic events such as Irani Cup, Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Vijay Hazare, Deodhar Trophy and Raj Singh Dungarpur Trophy.
Patel dismissed suggestions that the recent IPL spot-fixing scandal had marred its prospects in selling the rights at a better price. “I don’t think negative news has got anything to do with these kind of things. Cricket is going on well. Our teams are doing good. It is not attributed to any image (of the Board). According to us there is no question of a bad image,” Patel said.
Asked if the Board had decided to include the home series against West Indies to make up for the revenue, the BCCI Secretary said the idea was to please the fans by pencilling in more matches in India. “There were a couple of reasons because BCCI is also committed to its local fans. Somehow, for the season 2013-14, only 24 days, if I am not wrong, was the home series (duration of Australia tour including non-match days). So obviously we were worried, and we are quite happy that West Indies series has been finalised.”
It is understandable that an official statement would not have amounted to anything more than what Patel mouthed, but one hopes that the ostrich gets its head out of the ground to get a clear view of where things are heading.
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