MCA-Star Sports deal falls through

Strange are the ways of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).

The fortnight gone by has been a roller coaster ride for the city's cricket body, which was trying hard to ink a sponsorship deal with Star Sports. However, the deal that was supposed to cover all MCA-affiliated tournaments including school and college cricket, fell through after the channel pulled out.

"Adverse publicity in the press" was stated as one of the reasons for Star Sports not signing Rs 1.5-crore deal, MCA vice-president Ravi Savant announced at a media conference on Tuesday.

The marketing committee of the MCA was hell-bent on getting Star Sports on board, but issues like undervaluation and lack of clarity in the agreement prompted some managing committee members to raise a stink. This eventually led to the pullout.

Savant, who was to announce the signing of the deal on Tuesday, ended up reading out just the opposite. This after angry managing committee members raised a hue and cry on Monday. However, the MCA once again doled out a release rescheduling the media briefing for Tuesday, hoping for a positive reply.

"There were reports that Star is trying to grab the deal. Let me make it clear that it was we who approached Star. We had no sponsor and when Star agreed to shell out Rs 1.5 crore, it was good because, to be precise, our total expenditure of conducting the tournaments is Rs 1.38 crore and not Rs 3 crore as reported in (a section of) the press.

"So, as of now, we have no sponsor. Ego issues in the managing committee have put this deal off."