Mumbai Indians in record deal with Idea

Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise team Mumbai Indians (MI) is close to finalising a record sponsorship deal with Idea Cellular worth $2-3 million.

“We have almost finalised the deal. It’s the biggest in IPL (so far),” a spokesperson for Mumbai Indians said. The MI spokesperson said the deal, if and when signed, would be worth $2 million for preliminary matches played by the team and would rise to $3 million for semi-finals and the final in case the team progresses that far.

However, a spokesperson for Idea said it was too early to give details about the proposed deal. “We are still at the negotiation stage and it’s premature to talk about figures,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Reliance Industries-owned IPL team was continuing negotiations with the Cricket Club of India to play all its home matches at the Brabourne Stadium, the MI spokesperson explained.

“We are still in talks with the CCI authorities and the response has been quite positive. We don’t want to say anything more at this juncture,” he said.

If the talks are successful, MI would play all its seven home matches at the Brabourne Stadium in South Mumbai. In 2008, their home matches were split between the Wankhede Stadium and the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Union Minister P Chidambaram is likely to review the schedule of the IPL tomorrow.