BCCI title rights go for ₹369.6 crore to IDFC First Bank
The valuation has exceeded expectations with the Indian board having cut the base prize down to attract bidding interest.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has scored big in its latest round of title rights sale for bilateral cricket at home across formats (2023-26) with private sector bank IDFC First taking the rights for ₹369.6 crore for 56 matches.
It translates to ₹6.6 crore per match - around 2.7 times the base value and 1.7 times the existing valuation.
After having to endure a value correction from its recent sale of jersey rights to Dream 11 and kit sponsorship to Adidas, the Indian board has been able to buck the trend, days before the crucial e-auction of media-rights for its bilateral cricket.
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Anticipating low market interest for bilateral cricket, the BCCI had reduced the title rights base value to ₹2.4 crore per match from ₹3.8 crore that were paid by Mastercard – they were sub-licensed the rights originally held by Paytm (2019-23).
While the escalation in value may surprise a few, it underscores the attraction of Indian cricket for a new brand looking to capture consumer mind-space. IDFC First Bank was formed in late 2018 after the merger of erstwhile IDFC and Capital First and counts Amitabh Bachchan among its brand ambassadors. It helps that Indian bilateral cricket is played round-the-year except monsoons which helps a brand looking for continuous visibility.
Following initial interest from 12 entities and 8 submitting bids, many failed to clear the eligibility clause when the bids were opened on Friday. It is learnt, there were a few bids over the base price – Sony network's being the most prominent - but none came close to matching the winning bid.
