BCCI kit sponsorship amount to see 31% dip as Nike deal ends

Times of India reported that Nike, before its ongoing deal, offered the BCCI Rs 88 lac per match along with a separate minimum guarantee of around Rs six crore per year for a total of approximately 220 matches over four years. The athletic footwear and apparel giant also offered a 15% royalty and barter products worth around Rs 8-10 crore apart from the disclosed deal amount. 

However, with the current deal coming to an end in September, the BCCI is busy structuring a Request for Proposal (RFP) to be brought out next week. But in what is a negative value quotient for the BCCI, RFP could see the base price for logo rights scale down by almost 31%, keeping the Minimum Guarantee clause in the existing Nike deal aside.

"They could be looking at the new RFP with around Rs 61 lac as base price but there's more to it. The RFP is going to be divided into three buckets - a) The main logo sponsor with rights to sell replicas of the Team India jersey; b) Apparel partner with rights to sell fan merchandise; c) Combination of the bucket 'a' & bucket 'b',” an industry insider told ToI.

In doing so, the BCCI might look at flouting the ICC guidelines that stipulate that the main logo sponsor of any national jersey must be a sports kit manufacturer. However, the BCCI, considering the current situation, might look for a normal bidder too. 

"However, in this market derailed by COVID, the BCCI may cite the inability of enough contenders to bid and therefore tweak the mandatory requirement of 'kit manufacturer', thus allowing multiple players to enter the fray but keep some aesthetics in place - like, for instance, ensuring that only an apparel manufacturer's logo (not necessarily sports apparel) goes on the jersey," a BCCI source told the same publication.