BCCI grants Paytm title sponsorship rights till 2019

BCCI grants Paytm title sponsorship rights till 2019: Today, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) signed a four-year title sponsorship deal with Paytm which is worth Rs. 2.42 crore per match. Now, Paytm will be team India’s new home series title sponsor. The BCCI’s deal with Micromax Informatics Limited, had ended in April. The One97 Communications outbid Micromax this time round to bag the deal.

Paytm is an Indian e-commerce shopping website launched in 2010 and is owned by One97 Communications which initially focused on Mobile and DTH Recharging but is expanding its market and services with time. Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the founder of the company, which has its headquarter in Noida, India.

Recently, the Indian Board had published an ITT (invitation to tender) for title sponsorship relating to the BCCI home series/tournaments for both international and domestic fixtures for the 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 cricket seasons. It is speculated that between 2015 and 2019, India will play approximately 86 matches.

Few weeks ago a BCCI official was quoted in a press release saying that, “The rights on offer include sponsor branding of the relevant series with the title sponsor logo, official designation as the title sponsor of the relevant international or domestic series, visibility at the stadium during both international and domestic matches, broadcast sponsorship rights, and a host of other rights.”

He had further added that, “The price per cricket match is expected to be in the range of Rs.2-3 crore. The market isn’t ready to pay a higher price,” said the official cited above. “The price per cricket match is expected to be in the range of Rs.2-3 crore. The market isn’t ready to pay a higher price.”

The Bids were accepted till today, 30 July. And the title sponsorship rights were to be granted today after the bids were opened and subsequently evaluated. Micromax which held the rights till now, missed out on bagging it since the documents submitted by them were termed incomplete.

The deal will help the richest cricket board in the world to earn Rs 210 crores extra over the next 4 years via this deal with Paytm; it will be in addition to its earnings from Star Sports, which is not only the broadcast partner but also the sponsor of the Indian cricket team jersey.