BCCI looking for sponsors for home matches

With Bharti Airtel deciding not to renew their sponsorship, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Thursday invited tenders for sponsorship rights of its international and domestic matches at home for a period of just six months starting Oct 1. 

The 23-member BCCI marketing committee, under the chairmanship of Farooq Abdulla, met here and decided to issue Invitation to Tender (ITT) for title sponsorship rights for international and domestic matches for the period of October 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014. 

Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajeev Shukla, who is also member of the marketing committee, told IANS that the base price per international matches has been set at Rs.2 crore. "The base price for each match is Rs.2 crore. And we will give it to the highest bidder," Shukla told IANS.

Airtel, which was paying Rs.3.33 cores for each match, has refused to renew its contract that expired March 31, prompting the BCCI to look for a new sponsors for international series and domestic matches played at home. Airtel had signed the contract Sep 1, 2010.

BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said the rights fee will be charged on a per international match basis. "For the purposes of ease of calculation, while rights are granted for domestic international Series, no consideration will be attributable in respect of the domestic matches," he said.

The two international series during the period are against Australia and the West Indies. India will be playing seven ODIs and one T20 against Australia from next month while the series against the West Indies comprise two Tests and three ODIs. Batting great Sachin Tendulkar will also be playing his landmark 200th Test against the West Indies.

The sponsorship rights for the domestic matches will extend to Irani Cup, Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Vijay Hazare Knock-Out, Prof DB Deodhar Trophy and Raj Singh Dungarpur Trophy.

The domestic series will also include visiting 'A' teams' matches, practice matches of international visiting teams and any other List 'A' matches, as may be finalised and advised by the BCCI. The ITT will be available at the BCCI headquarters at Cricket Centre, Wankhede Stadium, from 11:00 am, Sep 20 until 5:00 pm, Sep 26. The tender papers cost Rs.2,00,000. Bids will be accepted until 12:00 pm, Oct 3.