| MUMBAI:
About the only consistent aspect of bidding for cricket rights is that no one
seems to have a fix on just how high the numbers will go. Test minnows Bangladesh
has sold to Nimbus Sport, the marketing rights for international cricket matches
held in that country till 2012 for a whopping $ 56.88 million. To put some
perspective on the matter, $11.75 million is what ESPN Star Sports paid the Bangladesh
cricket Board (BCB) last time round when it acquired the rights for a period of
five years. Those rights expired in April last year. The BCB's new tender invitation
is for the period 1 November 2006 to 31 March 2012. Bangladesh is expected to
play 21-23 Test matches and 59-61 internationals during this period. Speaking
to Indiantelevision.com earlier, ESPN India MD RC Venkateish had said that
his network was certainly interested in renewing the rights. Nimbus' bid
was over $ 23 million higher than next in line Zee Telefilms' tender, newswire
Press Trust of India quoted Bangladesh Cricket Board general secretary Mahbub
Anam as saying on Friday. "We will sign a contract
with Nimbus within the next two weeks. All we need now is the government's seal
of approval," Anam said. Two key clauses in the tender document issued
by the BCB were: * Production the responsibility of the bidder though there
are allowable expenses against the winning bid (subject to the board agreeing)
including production costs. * All revenues will be shared between BCCB and
the successful bidder in a ratio of 80:20 in favour of BCCB. Nimbus' telecast
of Bangladesh cricket begins later this month with a five-match one-day series
against Zimbabwe. After that, Bangladesh plays Bermuda and Canada in early 2007
(two ODIs each).
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board sets $ 50 million reserve price for cricket rights | 
