BCCI struggles to find title sponsor for India home matches amid steep pricing

The BCCI is yet to finalise a title sponsor for India’s home matches after limited interest in the rights, reportedly due to the steep base price. Google Gemini, Spinny and SBI Life are among potential sponsors in discussions with the Board.

New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to find the title sponsor of the Indian cricket team for home matches, as not much interest has been shown in acquiring the rights due to the steep pricing. The Indian.

What Happened

The BCCI had released the invitation on July 20, with the last date for ITT document purchase on August 4. The BCCI kept the last date to seek clarifications to August 5.

• BCCI’s current rights holder – IDFC First Bank – pays a sum of ₹4.2 crore per match, but the increased base price kept at ₹4.75 crore seems to be the thorn in.

• The invited deal was for two years, down from the three that the IDFC Bank got in 2023.

• There have been a few potential sponsors who submitted for the ITG property, which was kept at ₹1 lakh as a non-refundable amount.

Key Details

The Board is in talks with potential sponsors, with Google Gemini emerging as one of the brands involved in discussions. Spinny and SBI Life are apparently in conversation too.

• The last date of submission for the quotation documents was kept as August 25.

• The deadline to purchase the RFQ was August 14, with the last date to seek clarifications being August 16.

• The brand that buys the title sponsorship rights can’t purchase the Associate Rights, and the latter will only be confirmed once the title sponsor has been locked.

Why It Matters

The Indian Board had confirmed in its ITT that it expects the holder to host nearly 35 matches.

• Moreover, the Indian Board had also released the Request for Quotation (RFQ) for the Associate Partner Rights for BCCI events.

• GroupM, ITW and Sporty Solutions have reportedly bought the document.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by Telangana Today as more details emerge