Want to own the No. 1 Test cricket team in the world? Yes, it is up for grabs and it will cost you Rs 538 cr. Do you have the massive figure? Tough, isn’t it! Mind you, the rights are available for five years. Star India, who owns it currently will see their term end on March 31. So all you money spinners, start contemplating at least. BCCI has initiated the tender process to award one of the most coveted sponsorship rights to the buyer.
Whosoever becomes Star India’s successor in April will hold the sponsorship of team India who will be playing 259 matches, including 238 bilateral matches and 21 across ICC tournaments—ICC Champions Trophy in June 2017, 2019 ICC World Cup, 2020 ICC World T20, and 2021 ICC Champions Trophy.
BCCI has set Rs 2.2 crore as the base price for bilateral matches, while for the ICC tournaments, the base price is set at Rs 70 lakh. Even at the base price, BCCI will earn at least Rs 523.6 crore from bilateral matches and Rs 14.7 crore from ICC properties, lapping Rs 538.3 crore.
A BCCI spokesperson, on the condition of anonymity, said, “We’ve had a promising start to the tender process with interested parties buying the tender document. We look forward to concluding the process and announcing the team sponsor for the next five years on March 7. BCCI has delivered the highest value in team sponsorship across all the cricket teams in the world. And it has done that consistently for 20 years.”
Currently, Star India is paying Rs 1.92 crore per match for bilateral matches (base price was set at Rs 1.5 crore) and Rs 61 lakh for ICC championship series.
