Tuesday, 10 December 2013 00:00
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Rights run from Jan 2014 to March 2017; Sahara mulls sponsorship re-bid
Star India, the television network, has bagged the Indian team sponsorship rights for a four-year period, starting 1 January, 2014, and ending 31 March, 2017. ESPNcricinfo understands Star’s bid was worth Rs. 19.2 million ($ 315,000 approx) per match for bilateral series and Rs. 6.1 million ($ 100,000 approx) per match for ICC sponsored tournaments. This brings to an end a 12-year partnership with Sahara, the existing team sponsor, whose contract expires on 31 December.
Star is also the title sponsor for BCCI’s international and domestic matches till 31 March, 2014, and holds the broadcast, internet and mobile rights to Indian cricket until March 2018.
The deadline to submit the bids ended at 3 p.m. on Monday, after which the BCCI’s marketing committee evaluated the various offers submitted. Of the seven companies that purchased the invitation to tender documents, only two bids were shortlisted eventually: Star and Sahara India Financial Corporation.
Sahara had initially decided to not renew its contract with the BCCI, the main reason being that it has been locked in bitter legal dispute with the BCCI, primarily concerning the Pune Warriors IPL franchise. Sahara, which owns Warriors, had been asking the BCCI to reduce the annual ownership fee and the matter entered the courts, which asked for it to be resolved through arbitration. Eventually, in October this year, the BCCI terminated the franchise.
But, interestingly, as the deadline for the bid approached, Sahara decided to compete for the sponsorship rights; it bought the tender document on the eve of the deadline for submission. It also put in a higher offer than Star: Sahara bid Rs. 20.3 million per match for bilateral games and Rs. 9.1 million per match for ICC tournaments. However, its bid was rejected on technical grounds.“Two bidders - Star India Ltd. and Sahara India Financial Corporation - were in the fray. Sahara’s bid was found to be ineligible,” a BCCI release stated, without going into details.
Reacting to the development, Sahara expressed disappointment at the treatment handed out to it and even questioned BCCI’s motive. “This (legal) dispute has been happening from May. So why did they [the BCCI] continue to take money from us under the existing sponsorship rights, which we hold till 31 December. They raised the technical issue just because they wanted to disqualify us,” Abhijit Sarkar, a Sahara spokesperson, told ESPNcricinfo.
According to Sarkar, Sahara officials were asked to sit out as the board’s lawyer explained to the marketing committee why the company was not eligible and its various legal wrangles with the BCCI. “If they had an objection, they should have told us when we were picking up the tender,” Sarkar said. “Even after us having done that, they could have told us your bid would not be considered since there is a legal dispute going on.”
