Advertisers stump BCCI on sponsorship

The Men in Blue haven’t quite got a thumbs up from advertisers for the team’s sponsorship, with virtually no takers for forms that are up for sale to bid for the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team till this evening. Sale of forms closed today and tomorrow is the last date for bids.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has fixed a rather stiff base price of Rs 510 crore for a four-year sponsorship of the India team, nearly double of what the Sahara group, whose contract ends in December 2009, had paid for the last four years — Rs 425 crore.

Sources close to the tender said they had no information of anybody even buying the forms that cost Rs 5 lakh, leave alone bid for the contract, for which one has to provide bank guarantee of Rs 48 crore.

“Most advertisers will let the tender date pass to force BCCI to lower the rates,” said an executive of a leading media buying agency.

“Advertisers like Reebok, Idea Cellular, Tata DOCOMO, Bharti Airtel, Hero Honda and Nokia who showed interest have chosen to stay away too,” said their respective media buying houses.

Even existing sponsor Sahara has stayed away.

Though BCCI is the most sought-after cricket association that gives brand presence on the team’s wear, companies feel the current base price is too high to be economically viable. A senior executive of Aircel, when asked recently if they would bid for the contract, said it was too expensive.

A leading soft drink manufacturer said it was “more cost effective to sponsor a few IPL teams at Rs 3-4 crore, which has a large audience, rather than put so much money on the Indian team”.

In fact, advertisers revealed to Business Standard that BCCI brass has been calling leading corporates, requesting them to participate in the bidding. “If no advertiser comes forward, BCCI may have to renegotiate with Sahara. However, this is up to the discretion of the Association,” said a source.

BCCI refused comment. Neither chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty nor Lalit Modi, who is overseeing the marketing process, responded to this paper’s query.

Four years ago, BCCI had fixed as base price Rs 90 lakh for a One Day International and Rs 1 crore for a Test match. This time, it has quoted Rs 3 crore per match.