Paytm grabs 4-yr BCCI title sponsorship rights
Paytm acquired the title sponsorship rights for all domestic and international cricket matches played at home till 2019, at a price of Rs.203.28 crore. The decision to award the rights to Paytm was taken at BCCI's marketing committee meeting. The domestic Ranji trophy competition will now become 'Paytm Ranji Trophy'. The first home series sponsored by Paytm will be against South Africa in September.
'World Sport Group', a Singapore based sports management firm secured the ground and title naming rights for the period of 2007- 2010. The deal was priced at Rs.3.14 crores for 55 matches. The team sponsorship rights for India during this period were held by the Sahara group, which also continued to hold on to them during the 2010 - 2013 period.
Airtel was the home series title sponsor for the period between Sep 2010 and March 2013 and the deal was worth Rs.3.33 crore for each international fixture. The title sponsorship deal on a short term contract for the year 2013-2014 went to STAR Group. STAR held broadcast and digital rights as media partner, home series title sponsorship and team sponsorship at the time.
Airtel did not renew its contract for title sponsorship after it ended on 31 March 2013. With STAR being the lone bidder, the 2013-14 sponsorship deal went for a base price, at almost Rs.1.5 crore less than the deal with Airtel.
BCCI awarded the title sponsorship rights for matches for the 2014-15 season to mobile brand Micromax for Rs.2.2 crores per match. The price of the deal was a little more than what STAR had bid in 2013 at Rs.2 crore per match. The season's title sponsorship was once more a short term contract and Micromax was the only bidder.
BCCI has various sponsors ranging from media rights sponsor, team sponsor, home series sponsor and clothing sponsor. At present, STAR India is the media rights sponsor and team sponsor. While media rights sponsorship of STAR is until 2018, the team sponsorship expires by 2017. Micromax was the home series sponsor for 2014-15. Nike the apparel sponsor since Dec 2005, continues to sponsor till date.
Paytm is an Indian online payments platform owned by One97 communications. It is backed by China's Alibaba and facilitates mobile recharge, DTH recharge and bill payment. It entered the ecommerce market in 2014 providing services similar to Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal etc.
