New Delhi, Aug. 20: The Board of Control for Cricket in India is squeezing out ever last bit of its income-generating ability these days.
After putting pressure on both Nimbus and Nike, the board’s broadcasting partner and official kit supplier to cough up their respective overdue payments or have their contracts terminated, the board has now landed a massive corporate sponsorship deal that will ensure it earns Rs 3.33 crores for every home game for the next three years.
Telecom giant Bharti Airtel have won the rights for all three formats of the game for a period starting from September 1 this year to March 31, 2013. The deal essentially entitles the company to prefix their brand name to every home series during that period, advertise itself on prime spots at the grounds and display it’s logos on stumps. With India playing a minimum of 52 matches in that period, the total value of the deal is expected to be over Rs 170 crores.
The per-match figure isn’t a big jump from the previous Rs 3.14 crores shelled out by companies for sponsorships on a series-by-series basis. But a good chunk of that amount was reserved as commission for the previous rights holder, World Sport Group, who acted as a bridge between the board and sponsors.
This time the board debarred agencies from bidding for the rights or representing other companies in the bidding process and opted for a fixed sponsor, just like England does with nPower or Australia with Vodafone.