BCCI sets Rs 350 crore as base price for Team India sponsorship rights

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has set a minimum price of Rs 350 crore for lead sponsorship rights of the national cricket team, according to a report in The Economic Times.

The base price for the sponsorship of bilateral matches featuring India is Rs three crore per match, while the base price for the sponsorship of International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournaments is Rs one crore per match.

The tender for the sponsorship rights of the national cricket team was released by the BCCI on June 14. The tender documents will be available for purchase till June 26.

The base price set by BCCI is less than the money paid by the ed-tech firm Byju’s, which was the lead sponsor until March. For domestic matches featuring Team India, Byju’s was paying Rs 5.07 crore per match and Rs 1.56 crore per match for ICC and ACC tournaments.

Companies in the betting, cryptocurrency, tobacco, and real-money gaming sectors have been barred by the BCCI from bidding for sponsorship rights.  

Also Read: Full list of brands banned by BCCI from sponsoring Indian cricket team

The BCCI has wisely set a lower base price than what it was getting from Byju’s, the report quoted a sports business expert as saying.

The expert said that the BCCI has set a realistic base price for the lead sponsor rights. The expert explained that the ad market is tough and that new-age sponsors who were spending large sums of money on cricket have cut their marketing budgets drastically due to the funding winter.

The lead sponsorship rights are a crucial asset that can be used by brands to create value, the expert said. Because of its association with the Indian cricket team, the recall value of Byju’s rose, the expert added.

China-based electronics manufacturing firm Oppo was replaced by Byju’s in 2019 to become the main sponsor of the Indian cricket team. Oppo had exited the sponsorship contract with the BCCI by transferring its rights to Byju’s, after having won the jersey sponsorship rights in March 2017 for Rs 1,079 crore.