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The bidding process, held almost in front of the media and to be
formally ratified by the BCCI board tomorrow, offers the winning
sponsor exclusive branding on the chest and leading arm of the cricketers'
shirts/T-shirts.
At the moment, the Indian cricket board has finalized 44 Tests
and 110 one-dayers for which the Sahara group has bid Rs 3.13 billion.
However, as 50 more days of cricket are to be added to this list,
which also includes ICC tournaments like Champions Trophy, Modi
said Sahara's final bid will further "go up on a pro rata basis."
"Sahara is aware of the additional 50 days of cricket that
will come its way and accordingly has agreed to increase the sponsorship
money," Modi said. However, he ruled out chances of any another
company besting Sahara when additional cricket days are added with
a bigger quote.
On the same upbeat note, he said that the BCCI expects the telecast
rights deals too to fetch a high amount. "We don't see any
problem in sharing of the matches with Doordarshan by private satellite
broadcasters."
Considering the upswing in fortunes the Indian cricket team has
been
witnessing in the recent past, it was not surprising that there
would be heightened interest in bidding for the rights, the winner
for which would expect significant mileage for promoting its brand.
Still, there are many in the business who remained skeptical over
the team sponsorship bids reaching the heights it finally did.
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