Tag: BCCI

Bidding takes BCCI home matches’ media rights to a new high

MUMBAI: The race is on to capture the five year media rights to the Indian cricket team’s home matches (102 matches in India from June 2018 to March 2023)

On offer are the television and rest of the world digital rights (GTVRD), Indian subcontinent digital rights (ID), and the global consolidated rights (GCR). And by end of yesterday (3 April), only three bidders – Reliance, Star India and Sony- were left in the fray in the e-auction for the GCR. The reason: the other bidders like Google and Facebook were disqualified as they did not have both a TV and digital presence.

The BCCI on its Twitter handle, through the day, announced which way the price graph was headed. Star India, which had the rights from 2012 to 2018, had breasted the tape by quoting Rs 3851 crore for a total of 96 matches across formats and included internet as well as mobile rights.

But according to BCCI’s Twitter handle, the e-auction bidding commenced with a price of Rs 43 crore per match and an annual payout of Rs 774 crore (in 2018-19); Rs 40 crore per match with an annual payout of Rs 1040 crore in 2019-20, Rs 40 crore and Rs 580 crore in 2020-21, Rs 40 crore per match and Rs 920 crore for 2021-22, Rs 42 crore per match and Rs 882 crore annually giving a total GCR bid of Rs 4176 crore.

That bid was bettered soon with an offer of Rs 4201.20 crore. Another offer of Rs 4244 crore came in according to the BCCI Twitter account.

Reports at the end of the day stated that the bidding went further northward with offers of Rs 4303 crore, Rs 4328.25 crore and Rs 4442 crore being the final quote just as the e-auction for day one ended. BCCI is being assisted by MJunction Services, Deloitte Haskins & Sells and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas to ensure transparency and compliance.

The online auction will now resume today, 4 April at 11 am from the same stage.

Experts opine the BCCI media rights figure could climb rapidly tomorrow and expectations are that bidders could up the rates to between $800 million to $1billion

The BCCI would surely approve.

April 3, 2018
BCCI strengthens IPL ACU, appoints Ajit Singh as head

MUMBAI: In a bid to further beef up anti-corruption initiatives during IPL, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has appointed retired top cop Ajit Singh as head of its Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). A 1982 Rajasthan cadre officer, Singh retired as director-general of police, Rajasthan in November 2017.

Singh will take charge ahead of 2018 season of IPL and will be based out of BCCI headquarters at Cricket Centre, Mumbai. The ACU would look to strengthen its hold on the game to protect its image from getting tarnished further.

IPL has been rocked by controversies from time to time, including allegations of match-fixing, spot- fixing and other such non-gentlemanly activities. Two teams, Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, make a return to IPL’s 2018 edition after a two-year suspension on grounds of irregularities involving individual players and team management.

IPL apart, the game of cricket was recently rocked by the ball tampering affair in the ongoing Australia-South Africa series where several Aussie players were accused of tampering with the ball in the last test match, throwing not only cricket in general but also cricket Australia into crisis.

Aussie captain and vice captain Steve Smith and David Warner, respectively, have been banned for 12 months from playing any international cricket, while batsman Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months. All three players have apologised and accepted responsibility in an emotional press conferences after being kicked off the tour and returning home last week. BCCI on 28 March 2018 banned Smith and Warner from this year’s IPL.

Meanwhile, former police commissioner of Delhi Neeraj Kumar has been retained as advisor to ACU of IPL till 31 May 2018.

Also Read:

BCCI sweetens the pot for bidders of India rights

The BCCI India rights conundrum

Dsport not in the running for BCCI’s media rights

April 3, 2018
Broadcasters express displeasure over BCCI’s match rates: Report

MUMBAI: With the BCCI rights up for grabs after being postponed to 3 April 2018, Star India and Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) are expected to slug it out to win the bid. Both broadcasters have, however, written to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) making their displeasure known in regards to the upcoming India rights as reported by CricketNext. The main reason, report says, is that the BCCI wants the media rights winner to pay the same amount for matches involving two visiting teams playing on Indian soil.

Star India, in its letter, which CricketNext claims to have possession of, has written, “The average viewership on Indian matches is significantly higher than on non-India matches (as surveyed during the Asia Cup in 2016). Even an India match with a non-Test playing nation generates more viewership than two major Test nations playing each other. The bidder is expected to attribute the same per match value to any such match without any realistic possibility of recovering such value. Paying the same per-match value for India matches and non-India matches is not commercially viable. We request the BCCI and the CoA to reconsider their position.”

SPSN has also expressed similar sentiments in its letter, says the report. “These last-minute changes on the bid documentation and the online bid is making it difficult for us to prepare for the bid on 3rd April. As you know, there are a lot of calculations and modelling that goes into a bid preparation and these last minute changes create so much uncertainty. One issue that is particularly of concern is regarding tri-series in India organised by the BCCI. The clarification says all matches will be valued the same. This means an India-Afghanistan-Bangladesh or an India-Bangladesh-Zimbabwe will be valued equally with an India-Australia-South Africa. This quite frankly is illogical. Advertisers and even the viewing public do not value these matches equally and for the BCCI to consider all of them as having the same value does injustice to bidders. We would earnest request BCCI to reconsider,” SPSN’s letter to the BCCI reportedly said.

Star India paid Rs 3851 crore for the India rights to broadcast the matches from July 2012 to March 2018 leaving behind the closest bid of Rs 3700 crore by Sony Pictures Networks (SPN). SPN also lost out to Star India for the Indian Premier League after televising the cash-rich league from 2008 till 2017. SPN, however, has bolstered its cricket pipeline after bagging the broadcasting rights from Cricket Australian and the English Cricket Board in the subcontinent, taking its tally to seven Test-playing nations.

“The whole idea was to strengthen our overall leadership position,” Rajesh Kaul, the president of SPN’s Sports and Distribution Business, had said last month. “ECB was a very important and integral part of the strategy. While Australian cricket happens during the winter here, cricket in England is during the summer. There is a very encouraging trend of other sports also getting traction in this part of the world but cricket is still the largest. And to have that dominant leadership position in cricket was very, very critical for us.”

Also read:

BCCI sweetens the pot for bidders of India rights

BCCI invites bids for e-auction of India rights

BCCI invites brands to acquire third-party rights for IPL

March 31, 2018
BCCI extends India media rights submission till 3 April

MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has extended its last date for submission of bids for the media rights for international and domestic matches at home for the next five years from 27 March to 3 April.

The BCCI media rights contract with Star India has been extended by 15 days to accommodate the Indian women team’s ODI series against England, according to a report.

The decision was taken by BCCI because the Indian women team is supposed to take on England in a three-match ODI series, which is part of the ICC women’s ODI championship, on 6, 9 and 12April at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. Star’s contract with the BCCI was earlier supposed to end by 31 March but now will end on 15 April 2018.

The rights have been split across three categories – global television rights plus rest-of-world digital rights package, an Indian subcontinent digital rights package, and a global consolidated rights package.

BCCI has set Rs 33 crore per match base price for the global TV rights and the rest of the world digital rights package, Rs 7 crore for the digital rights package for the Indian sub-continent, and Rs 40 crore for the consolidated package for global rights. This gives the bidders an option to submit separate bids for the global rights, Indian subcontinent rights or a consolidated bid for all the rights. The bid increment was fixed at Rs 50 lakh for the global TV and digital rights as well as the consolidated global rights and at Rs 12 lakh for the Indian sub-continent digital rights.

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Sports sponsorship in 2017 up by 14%: SportzPower-GroupM report

Paytm is the official ticketing partner of Kings XI Punjab’s home games for VIVO IPL 2018

Tata Motors signs three-year IPL deal with BCCI

March 22, 2018
BCCI sweetens the pot for bidders of India rights

MUMBAI: In a move that seems to be aimed at luring big spenders from the broadcasting industry, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CEO Rahul Johri, at an event in Mumbai, announced that a detailed calendar of the Indian cricket team’s touring programme from 2019 to 2023 would be made available to the public. The announcement could come as a big relief for broadcasters that are planning to bid for the upcoming BCCI rights on 27 March 2018.

Johri said, “There is a four-year FTP (future tours programme) cycle that we follow. The BCCI has negotiated the FTP cycle for the Indian team from 2019 to 2023. For the first time, five years in advance, you’ll have a day-date wise calender of the Indian team’s programme.”

Dsport is not bidding for the rights in the upcoming online auction while Star India and Sony have their hands full with other leagues and tournament rights.

Recently, the BCCI also introduced central contracts for Indian cricketers. Two new categories were introduced: category A+ introduced for senior men and category C for senior women.

Speaking about the decision, Johri said: “We are proud that the Indian cricket team is the best in the world in all the formats. The women’s team reached the final of the World Cup, the U-19 team won the World Cup. So, we have to give them the best infrastructure and the best support.”

He added that the best part about the central contracts, which were announced earlier this week, was the focus on domestic cricket because that is the bedrock of the Indian cricket. “Until now, the domestic players would get the actual compensation after one-and-a-half-years. What has been done now is the match fee of the domestic cricketers has been raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 35,000 per day. And they get the match fee after playing the games. Domestic players’ earnings are not dependent on the number of games team India plays. That is where the change will come,” he added.

Also Read :

Dsport not in the running for BCCI’s media rights

IPL gets 34 major brands on board this season

Mumbai Indians gets Goibibo as principal sponsor for IPL 2018

March 13, 2018
India set to roar in unision with the launch of the VIVO IPL 11 #BESTvsBEST Anthem

MUMBAI: Nothing unites India like Cricket does! With VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 all set to begin this April, in a first, BCCI & Star India have collaborated to co-create the campaign this year. It puts the spotlight on ‘Best vs Best’, that is, the best in global cricketing prowess competing against each other. An enthralling anthem which brings alive the unifying spirit of VIVO IPL 2018 herald the start of a thrilling face-off of best vs best.

Conceptualized by Ogilvy and Mather the anthem titled Best vs Best, focuses on VIVO IPL as the embodiment of the best of cricketing action with the best of global talent showcasing their prowess as match winners. The premier cricketing tournament stirs up a mix of emotions for Indian fans– pride, excitement, and euphoria. While IPL has grown each year since its inception, 2018 promises to be an inflection point in its history, as Star India re.imagines the VIVO IPL 2018 making it deeply local with technology at the heart of the experience.

The anthem, is being released simultaneously in 5 languages – Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Kannada and Telugu across all platforms, TV, Radio, and Digital. Building great synergies, Star India, BCCI and O&M have collaborated with a talented team, comprising of South African film maker, Dan Mace, music director, Raajeev V Bhalla and vocalist Siddhart Basrur, who sung the anthem in 5 different languages.

Sanjay Gupta, Managing Director Star India said “The very essence of VIVO IPL is a thrilling, action-packed celebration of cricket where the best of talent take on each other in one of the most gruelling cricket tournaments in the world. It is a fantastic celebration of both the game and its millions of fans across the world. The Best vs Best campaign endeavours to showcase the pinnacle of cricket that this tournament is associated with.”

Rahul Johri, Chief Executive Officer, Board of Control for Cricket in India “That cricket has been a religion in India and that the BCCI’s – Indian Premier League is perhaps the best manifestation of that is beyond doubt. For us at the BCCI, the focus has always been on increasing the fan base for the sport by engaging not only the hard-core cricket fans but also those who do not follow the sport on a regular basis namely women and children. Given that we are now ready to embark on the next chapter for the Indian Premier League with the start of the 11th edition, the BCCI, in collaboration with Star India has worked on co-creating a large multi-media campaign focussing on the ‘Best vs Best’. We hope this campaign spurs the non – cricket viewing public to engage more deeply with the VIVO IPL 2018 like never before.”

Piyush Pandey – Executive Chairman and Creative Director South Asia “IPL is the legendary cricket tournament in the world where every team is equally balanced and has an equal chance to win. It’s truly the best v/s the best. The campaign not only reflects the energy but also captures the fact that this is the best platform for young cricketers. We had fun putting it together!”

The 11th edition of VIVO IPL starts on Saturday, April 07, 2018 with defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings.

March 12, 2018
Paytm signs up as the official umpire partner for VIVO IPL for the next 5 Years

MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today announced its association with Paytm as the Official Umpire Partner of the VIVO Indian Premier League for the next five years. Paytm is also the Title Sponsor of India Cricket.

Speaking on the development, Chairman of the IPL, Mr. Rajeev Shukla said, “Paytm are presently the Title Sponsors of India Cricket and the relationship has now been extended to the IPL. Both Paytm and BCCI share a strong bond and we will continue to provide great value to Paytm.”

Paytm of Founder and CEO, Mr. Vijay Shekhar Sharma said, “We are delighted to be the IPL Umpire Partner for the next five years. Cricket has been a key element in Paytm’s brand journey and it has worked brilliantly for our young brand. In addition to IPL, we are also the Title sponsor for India cricket for the last few years. We had a great relationship with the BCCI, and our investment in IPL further reaffirms our commitment to this wonderful sport.”

Paytm offers a wide range of online and offline payment use-cases including mobile recharges,utility bill payments, movie ticketing as well as travel bookings among others. Paytm pioneered QR-based payments in the country, allowing millions of small merchants to accept payments using their smartphones. Paytm QR now enables its merchant partners to accept Paytm & UPI payments directly into their bank accounts at no charges, as it aims at extending its support to all major payments instruments and help them grow their, business.

March 12, 2018
Dsport not in the running for BCCI’s media rights

MUMBAI: With just two weeks remaining for the BCCI rights to be out for grabs, the interest from broadcasters seems to have waned.

According to a source at Discovery Communications, Dsport has not picked up the invitation to tender (ITT), which means the newest broadcast is likely not bidding. In an interview to Mint in December 2017, Discovery Communication India SVP and GM Karan Bajaj said that the network would focus on cricket on Dsport, after the launch of Discovery Jeet (launched on 12 February 2018).

Interested bidders had to pick up the tender documents upon payment of Rs 6.80 lakh ($10,000).The last date for picking up the ITT was till 5 pm on 5 March 2018. The last date for submission of bids is 10 am on 27 March. The online auction will start at 2 pm the same day.

Sony Pictures Network (SPN) India’s dependence has come down after having the rights of seven cricket boards out of the top 10 – Cricket Australia, England and Wales Cricket Board, Pakistan Cricket Board, Sri Lanka Cricket, Cricket South Africa, Cricket West Indies and Zimbabwe Cricket Board.

With IPL rights in its kitty, Star India also might skip the BCCI rights. It also has the rights of New Zealand Cricket for the next three years starting from 2017 end.

The BCCI rights are being awarded for a five-year period beginning from April 2018 till March 2023. Interested parties can bid for three packages—global television rights plus rest of the world digital rights, digital rights for the Indian subcontinent and a global consolidated rights bid.

For digital rights, players like Facebook, Twitter, Reliance Jio, Amazon Prime, Hotstar and Sony Liv will play a crucial role if they have picked up the documents. In the IPL media rights auction, Facebook, Reliance Jio and Airtel had bid over Rs 3000 crore each for the digital rights alone.

Though we don’t see the IPL frenzy for the upcoming rights, in the world of sports, spontaneity is everything and everyone is waiting for a surprise on 27 March 2018.

Also Read :

The year of big switch in sports broadcasting

BCCI invites bids for e-auction of India rights

Star and BCCI pull out all stops to make the VIVO IPL 2018 Retention event – an unprecedented success

March 12, 2018
‘The future of Indian cricket is shining bright’

Mumbai: Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly said that the transformation of the Indian cricket team began with players having confidence in their own abilities. “We were a bunch of talents but we did not know how to win Test cricket. That culture needed to change. India always had great batsmen, but we needed fast bowlers who could take 20 wickets,” he said.

BCCI CEO Rahul Johri said that the cricket body’s job was to give the cricketers best infrastructure. “Based on the feedback received from them, we have ensured that when the Team goes to England this summer, they play the first after spending almost a month there,” he said.

He also said that BCCI is planning a five-year-long calendar scheduling every tournament in advance. “So you will know which tournament is happening when in next five years,” he said.

Recounting his success during the recent tour of South Africa, vice-captain of Indian cricket team Ajinkya Rahane said that the key to success was thinking that they were playing in home ground. “In Johannesburg, I had the opportunity to become and hero and I played with a lot of discipline,” he said.

Sourav Ganguly had another explanation behind Rahane’s success. “He bats at no 5 in Test as I also did. Batting at no 5 and 6 in India is the most dangerous, but it’s the reverse outside the country. That’s the reason No 5 batsmen do well abroad,” said Ganguly.

Captain of the Under 19 World Cup winning Indian team Prithvi Shaw said that he had miles to go and this was just a beginning of his career.

Ganguly appreciated the BCCI’s decision to raise the match fee of the domestic cricketers from Rs 10,000 a day to Rs 35,000 and demanded that the fee must be raised further.

“We are the best team in all formats. The central contract focuses on domestic cricket because that’s the bedrock of Indian cricket. Now players get their fee on match day and don’t have to wait for one and a half year,” said Johri.

Rahane also praised his captain Virat Kohli and said that he did not want to change Virat’s aggression as it got the best out of him.

Ganguly added that the domestic structure of Indian cricket has improved the quality of Indian team and it now has bowlers who can take 20 wickets. Shaw said that he would like to lift the senior world cup some day.

March 10, 2018

IPL 2018: The dos and don’ts for brands

MUMBAI: Brands are always on the hunt to find events with high engagement and some sporting properties are just that. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been one of the most sought after and followed sports events in India since 2008. It’s 2018 now, its eleventh edition and the IPL has come a long way.

The T20 tournament is the fifth most popular sporting event in the world with over 335 million viewers and the number only seems to be increasing every year. Ad displays are synonymous with the IPL. Every conceivable property, right from boundary line ropes, billboards, stumps to even the sight screen is covered with brands and is monetised.

The IPL has turned out to be the best property for advertisers, considering its short three-month schedule, high consumer involvement and television ratings. Ever since the league started, it has managed to attract major clients as sponsors, including PepsiCo, Vivo, Oppo, Havells, Vodafone, Samsung, DLF, Karbonn among other big spenders.

With less than two months to go before the season starts in April 2018, brands have begun their hunt to pick their favourite teams.

Any sporting event is only made possible through the commercial participation and support of sponsors, partners, licencees and broadcasters. While Vivo Mobiles is the league’s title sponsor this year, several brands have come on board to become the associate sponsors for the teams.

The IPL governing council issues brand and content protection guidelines for all the brands that provide guidance on appropriate and acceptable commercial and non-commercial utilisation by third parties of the IPL proprietary names, proprietary marks and trophy image and audio-visual representations of the league.

Franchise sponsors and partners are granted certain rights by the franchises they associate with. The rights that franchises may grant to their sponsors and partners are governed by the franchise agreement, sponsorship guidelines, player ID guidelines and other applicable league rules.

But just because a brand isn’t Vivo doesn’t mean it can’t get a boost from the game—just that it needs to be careful. The council issues many pages of guidelines on the do’s and don’ts.

Indiantelevision.com got its hands dirty and compiled the crib sheet for advertisers and players below :

Players:

Major players competing in the games have established sponsorship deals with one or several brands. But once the league begins, they need to be careful about what they say, wear and do.

They Can	They Cannot
Share their experiences at the games via social media	Post or talk about their personal brand sponsors or mention any branded products
Share their own photos or videos	Mention or promote any organisations they support
Use IPL logo, so long as its not in a commercial context	Wear any branded apparel that isn’t official on IPL property

Official sponsor brand:

These are the brands that shell out big bucks for the title league partnership. Official sponsorship is expensive stuff for a usual five-year deal which is why only mega brands end up signing on the dotted line.

They Can	They Cannot
Advertise while the game is in progress	Conduct any advertising or promotions that have not been pre-approved by the IPL governing council.
Enjoy exclusive advertising within their market category	Cannot use IPL name or logo that is confusingly similar or likely to be mistaken for IPL footage which is unlicensed and unauthorised.
Mention the game on social media platforms
Supply their goods and services on an exclusive basis within IPL venue
Sell merchandise and team jerseys
Can run ticket promotions or IPL prizes in contest

Other brands:

Brands that are not official title sponsors but are partnering team sponsor or additional sponsor are allowed to do a limited amount of marketing during the league. These brands include brands like Kent RO, Muthoot Finance, Royal Stag, Kingfisher, Parle, Lotus Herbals among others that have come on board this season

They Can	They Cannot
Run marketing campaigns that feature the teams they sponsor	No franchise sponsor or partner may use the IPLname or marks in any of its marketing communication or promotion
Merchandise with general cricket terms, India related terms, provided there is no usage of IPL name or logo	Manufacture and sell counterfeit merchandise relating to IPL or unlicensed use of the IPL relating to any of the teams participating in the league
Can run ticket promotions or IPL prizes in contest	Launch a new campaign while the league is in process that talks about their association with the tournament without prior licence from the IPL committee.
	Brands cannot reproduce or distribute items during IPL and cannot be used on goods, in business names or in advertising promotions without licence from the IPL
	A formal or pre-existing association with any of the eight participating teams does not permit a team player or team sponsor to use the IPLname or logo without prior authorisation from the committee.
	Engage in ambush marketing, basically an attempt to create the false impression of an official relationship with IPL.

Live score on mobile and SMS guideline for official and team sponsors:

They Cannot
Use IPL name or footage on any mobile or wireless technology including on mobile apps without licence
SMS updates of live stores and game that utilise the IPL name

Brands and match schedule:

They Can	They Cannot
Use the match schedule to provide information in a purely non-commercial sense	Commercial use or presentation of match schedule by third parties is not permitted

Though the rules may sound stringent, they are to safeguard the interests of parties. Brands have to be extra cautious while associating and marketing themselves during sporting events and it is not all fun and games in the end!

Also Read :

IPL 2018 gets a makeover with Star India

Star India bags 5 new advertisers for IPL 2018

IPL 2018: Team sponsorship deals may see an uptick

Global appeal of Indian sports high, says Deloitte report

February 26, 2018