BCCI ready to share old archived footage with Star Sports
After receiving a request from Star Sports, the BCCI, in a one-off scenario, is ready to share their massive cricket archives considering there is no live sport being shown on television. The Board has also sent a letter to Star India invoking the Force Majeure clause should the IPL is cancelled.
After being devoid of producing any live content on the site due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Star Sports made a request to the BCCI to allow them the old archive to reproduce them for the audience. Considering the BCCI charges heavy dollar for the old archived matches, it seemed like a difficult proposition but now the Times of India reported that the board is ready to share old archived footage with Star Sports.
Star will now have access to some of the historic games in Indian cricket until the end of this ongoing global lockdown. DD Sports will also telecast the matches.
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"That's one thing the Board is very particular about. It charges top dollar when it comes to sharing archived footage. These are unusual times so I think they (Star) made this request. They've been partners with the BCCI for what? Nine years now? That's the least the BCCI could've done and it's great that they agreed to it," sources in the know told TOI.
It has also been reported that the BCCI has already sent a letter to Star India invoking the 'Force Majeure' clause if there be a suspension or delay in hosting the upcoming edition of the IPL. Currently, the IPL stands postponed and if at all, it has to be cancelled altogether, the 'Force Majeure' clause in the contract will come into effect, which caters to the occurrence of an event which is outside the reasonable control of a party and which prevents that party from performing its obligations under a contract.
"Should there be a suspension / delay" - is how BCCI mentions the immediate future of the tournament, thus leaving it to the industry to speculate that all efforts will be made to host the tournament this year, should the effects of the virus subside. Invoking the (Force Majeure) clause is just a precautionary measure. It's a contractual obligation. The more important thing is that hosting the IPL remains BCCI's top-priority, of course only if the current situation relents," sources say.