Cricket: Team India now worth $1 billion

The Indian cricket team clinched a new sponsorship deal on Friday which, with media rights, will net them one billion dollars for playing in an additional 25 oneday matches over the next five years.

Sapa-AFP reports that Indian media firm Zee Telefilms agreed to pay 219 million dollars for 25 one-dayers at venues in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, England, Singapore and Malaysia.

The ambitious plan of five matches a year over the next five years features the Indian team against Pakistan, Australia, England and the West Indies and is in addition to the regular Test programme drawn up by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Additional burden for
overworked players

Indian cricket board vice-president Lalit Modi, who announced the new deal, stressed it would not put additional burden on the already overworked cricketers.

“We have committed to the players they will not play more than 15 Tests and 30 one-dayers in a year as stipulated by the ICC,� said Modi.

“We will only rework the schedule in a way that attracts maximum sponsorship.

“The total value of sponsorship deals now stands at 1.052 billion dollars,� said Modi.

Indian deals in
perspective

The Indian deals are almost double the 550 million dollars the ICC got from the Global Cricket Corporation for sponsorship of two World Cups and three Champions Trophy tournaments between 2000 to 2007.

The biggest deal struck this year was 612 million dollars for global media rights secured by Indian marketing company Nimbus in February for all Test

and one-day cricket played in India over the next four years. Among other deals, Indian business house Sahara were made sponsors of the national team in a five-year deal worth 70 million dollars, while US giant Nike bagged the rights to kit out the team after paying 43 million dollars.

Cricket-crazy India, with its vast television audience, is the sport’s economic powerhouse. Five of the six global sponsors of the ICC are India-specific.