How STAR India bailed out BCCI from a crisis

At its peak, IPL had a cover of about Rs 900 crore, but that dropped to almost Rs 550-600 crore

The popular perception is that STAR India got the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sponsorship deal for international and domestic matches cheap at Rs 2 crore a match, but the other way of looking at it would be that the entertainment network actually bailed out BCCI from a deep crisis.

Erstwhile title sponsor Bharti Airtel used to pay Rs 3.3 crore a match to BCCI, which ended in April, a 39 per cent drop. But this is not the first such crisis for BCCI. Earlier in the year, it saw a drastic drop in insurance cover amount for the cricketing extravaganza, the Indian Premier League (IPL). At its peak, IPL had a cover of Rs 900 crore, but that dropped to Rs 550-600 crore owing to the lack of interest of advertisers in IPL and the continuous erosion of credibility.

The reason for the current blow to BCCI is clearly the recent controversies it has found itself in. Be it N Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan's involvement in alleged betting or IPL players committing spot fixing.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, former president at BCCI, told Business Standard that the reasona for such a crisis were more than one. “There is more than one reason for this situation. Of course, the recent controversies are there, playing a key role for fueling such crisis,” he said. Such was the extent that the apex court of the country recently asked the cricket governing body why it had lost credibility.

In fact, the T20 Champions League that is currently underway, too has fallen on its face to garner any sort of buzz among cricket lovers despite three of the IPL teams making it to the semi finals.

According to a analyst at Angel Broking, economic slowdown and too much of cricket all round the year has made matters worse for the richest cricket controlling body in the country. “Controversies have had the most impact, but I think, there is too much of cricket going on through out the year. People are not even aware of the participating countries or clubs at times. On the other hand, companies have made intentional moves to cut spending as much as possible,” he said. So tepid was the response for the title sponsorship deal that mobile maker Micromax, which had shown keen interest in the deal, pulled out before placing the final bids.   

For STAR India, the deal couldn't have worked out better. Apart from getting the main deal done at a base price, it has advantages like it can sell the on-ground rights, pitch branding and on its channels, which would bring in additional revenues.