Media rights make cricket cash-rich
Increase in number of sports channels has boosted investment
MUMBAI: Thirty-five years ago, when the staff of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) went on strike, Indian cricket fans missed watching one of the best one day innings cricketer Kapil Dev has played — 175 not out against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup. Ten years later, in 1993, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ditched the state-run broadcaster — Doordarshan (DD) — and sold the rights to televise all of India’s matches to private broadcasters.
This was a turning point for BCCI, and since then Indian cricket fans have never missed watching a single ball the team has played. With top advertising dollars coming in, an estimated ~4,2692 crore in 2017, cricketers today have access to better infrastructure and sponsorships.
Sachin Tendulkar recalls how the 1996 World Cup was especially a game changer. “I remember that 1996 was a pivotal period for BCCI when India hosted the 1996 World Cup and things started changing from there. Remuneration increased not just for the cricketing body but also for the players,” said the 45-yearold veteran.
That year, India reached the semi-finals and Tendulkar scored 523 runs — the highest scorer of the tournament. Tendulkar played without any sponsor support.
Before 1993, DD held a monopoly on the live telecast of cricket matches. The BCCI had to pay DD about ~5 lakh per game to broadcast the game. “Jagmohan Dalmia [then BCCI secretary] and IS Bindra [who was BCCI president] fought DD’S monopoly by selling television rights to Transworld International (TWI) ahead of the India-england series for a fee of $40,000. DD, on its part, was forced to purchase the broadcast rights from TWI for $1 million, with the BCCI making a $600,000 profit,” said former BCCI official Ratnakar Shetty.
From 1998 to 2004, with the increase in the number of sports channels, investment rose multi-fold.
Currently, Star India has paid ~6,140 crore for the worldwide broadcast rights for all Indian matches from 2018 to 2023. It has also bought the rights to telecast Indian Premier League matches from 2018 to 2022 for ~16,350 crore.
Tendulkar said sportsmen need big multinationals to support them. “…and because of their involvement and big sponsorships” it “eventually helps infrastructure” and reflects on the players’ performance. He credited sponsorships for the improved conditions of the grounds. “Today, for players, diving to catch a ball comes naturally during a match. In the earlier generation one had to plan – ‘okay the ball has been hit and I need to time my dive’,’’ he said. He added it would not come naturally to a number of players because the grounds they were brought up on were not in top conditions.
“One would scrap elbows and knees and that would keep you away from action for a good four to five days.”
Tendulkar said that is not the case today. “The grounds are much better now. So, I think sponsorship is really important. It is not just how much money they bring in but what impact it has on the sport that is really important,” he said.
The growth in revenue has reflected in how the BCCI has given all cricket associations a one-time grant of ~70 crore to buy land, build and refurbish stadium after 2004.
Shetty said the BCCI has also offered a retainer contract of a fixed annual amount along with match fee from 2004. “Today, the fee is ~7.5 lakh for each one-day and T20 match, and ~15 lakh for each Test match. In 1993, it was ~2,000 per day. When Sunil Gav- askar retired, he was paid ~10,000 per Test match… by the time Sachin started playing, [the players would get] ~4,000 per day until 2004,” said Shetty.
According to the Forbes Celebrity list, Virat Kohli earned ~228.09 crore followed by MS Dhoni at ~101.77 crore and Tendulkar at ~80 crore in 2018.
The first-ever mega sponsorship – ~100 crore deal for five years – was offered to Tendulkar in 2001 by Worldtel, as cricket management firm. Today, sponsorship revenue from cricket is over ~4,692.5 crore. It accounts for 65% of overall sports sponsorship of ~7,300 crore, according to a report of advertising firm Groupm.
Tendulkar said more sponsorship will come for the 2019 World Cup as well. Source:forbes Celebrity
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