New Delhi, Aug. 16: The Indian team’s request to space out matches leading up to the World Cup next year has put the Board of Control for Cricket in India under tremendous pressure to act on something it has never been comfortable with: cut games that are scheduled at home.
Out of the eight Tests, 13 ODIs and a sole Twenty20 international India play until the start of the mega-event on February 19, close to 75 per cent of those matches — five Tests and eight one-dayers — will be played at home. And this is where the BCCI earns the bulk of its millions.
Sample this: for an ODI Team India play anywhere in the country, the Board pockets a whopping Rs 6.5 crore just from its two least productive sources. Rs 3.34 crore is paid every game by primary team sponsor Sahara, while the title sponsor of the series — is usually a big multinational — shells out Rs 3.14 crore.
This amount remains unchanged irrespective of the game’s outcome. An Indian win in front of a packed stadium is the same on the Board’s balance sheet as a huge loss played to empty galleries.
The finally tally, however, is much bigger at a shade under Rs 40 crore per match, the biggest contributor to the BCCI coffers being Nimbus Communications. The broadcaster, who owns Neo Cricket and Neo Sports channels, bagged television rights from the board in October last year for a four-year deal worth Rs 2,000 crore.
The deal, covering all home matches between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2014, ensures that the Board earns an extra Rs 31.5 crore per international match — whether T20, ODI, or Test — as long as they are played in India.
Another source is apparel sponsor Nike, which had signed a Rs 199cr deal with the BCCI in 2005. Compare the money the BCCI earn from home ties, the income from away games seems miniscule — at just over Rs 4 crore. Only Sahara and Nike shell out for these.