The BCCI on Monday sold the ground and title naming rights for 55 Tests and ODIs to be played in India in the next 31 months beginning September 1.
MUMBAI: The Cricket Board on Monday sold the ground and title naming rights for 55 Tests and ODIs to be played in India in the next 31 months beginning September 1 to the World Sports Group (ESG) for Rs 173.25 crore.
WSG, part of the Global Cricket Corporation based in Hong Kong, London and Singapore, outbid two other competing Indian firms - Percept and Nimbus - to secure the rights till March, 2010, BCCI vice-president and marketing committee chief Lalit Modi said on Monday.
"The WSG consortium has won the rights from among four bidders including 21st Century Media which was disqualified as they had not submitted all the necessary documents," Modi said.
The BCCI official said that the winning bid was just over the base price of Rs 3 crore per match set by the board for the bidding process.
"There will be 55 matches covered by the bid. The winning bid is three times over the last contracted bid which was Rs one crore per match," Modi said.
Modi also said that the bids for the other rights, including for Twenty20 internationals to be played in India and domestic cricket, were still "being negotiated".
The deadline for submitting the bid ended at 12 noon on Monday after which they were opened in front of the bidders and the members of the BCCI's marketing committee.
Nimbus, however, own the telecast rights for the international and domestic matches organised by the BCCI, during this period.
The BCCI had invited bids from sponsors earlier this month for ground and title naming rights for all ODIs and Tests during the next 31-month period.
Similarly bids had also been invited for all Twenty20 Internationals to be held in India as well as matches featuring India 'A' and India juniors against international teams.
It had also invited bids for the rights of its domestic tournaments, including the Ranji Trophy, N K P Salve Challenger Series, Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy, Irani Trophy and the Premier (one-day) Cup.
A sponsor or agency for the branding of umpires' clothing for all domestic ties had also been sought for through the bidding process by the BCCI.
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