BCCI Apex Council Meeting – India Cricket Jersey Sponsor: Desperately seeking an exit, India’s jersey sponsor BYJUS has asked BCCI to encash their Rs 140 crore bank guarantee to honour their current agreement. Another major blow comes from broadcaster Star India, who seek a 130 crore discount in their current deal that runs until March. The virtual meeting lasted for well over an hour, as the Apex Council deliberated on the issues : Follow all Indian cricket updates live on Insidepsort.IN
“Only Byju’s and Star India issues were discussed in the meeting but that also took well over an hour. It was a serious matter involving millions of dollars so naturally it took time,” a BCCI source told PTI.
BCCI Apex Council Meeting: Byjus REFUSE to pay jersey sponsorship fees, asks BCCI to ENCASH Rs 140 CRORE bank guarantee: Follow Live Updates
India’s jersey sponsor Byju’s hs further signalled its intentions to terminate its agreement with the Indian team. The edtech major wants the board to encash a bank guarantee worth an estimated Rs 140 crore to honour the current agreement. Byju’s plans to lay off around 2500 of its 50,000 workforce by March in its aim to become profitable.
Earlier, the BCCI had asked BYJUS to continue at least until March 2023. The edtech major extended its jersey sponsorship agreement with the BCCI until November 2023. The deal cost an estimated USD 35 million. The brand replaced Oppo back in 2019. Byju’s was also one of the sponsors of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
BCCI Apex Council Meeting LIVE: Why does BYJUs want out?
- BYJUS took over India’s jersey sponsorship from Oppo back in 2019.
- BYJUS experienced a boom with ed-tech kicking off, signing a USD 35 million contract.
- The brand renewed its partnership for another year in July.
- However, edtech services have now moderated after two consecutive years of hypergrowth.
- The company is looking to cut costs despite the FIFA World Cup and Lionel Messi deals.
- As thing stand, BYJUS is roughly paying 10% more than what Oppo paid on a per-match basis.
“BCCI received an email from Byju’s on 4.11.2022 requesting terminating the association post the recently concluded T20 World Cup. As per our discussions with Byju’s, we have asked them to continue the current arrangement and continue the partnership at least until 31.3.2023,” read an earlier BCCI note on the matter.
There is only one item on the meeting agenda – “discussion on Byju’s and STAR media rights payment”. Star is the current holder of the media rights for Indian cricket’s home season. The rights will come up for renewal after March and major players are to be in the running for the same.
Last year, the BCCI sold the IPL media rights for the 2023-2027 cycle for a whopping Rs 48390 crore. Star purchased the TV rights for Rs 23,575 crore. Viacom18 were awarded the digital rights for Indian sub-continent at ₹23,758 crore.
BCCI Apex Council Meeting: BCCI calls EMERGENCY meeting TODAY as DESPERATE Byjus wants out immediately, Follow Live Updates
BYJUS requested a termination after India’s T20 World Cup exit. The BCCI however extended the timeline by 6 months, postponing the decision until March 2023. However, the ed-tech giant now desperately wants out forcing the Apex Council to convene.
The BCCI lost three big companies as its sponsors in the last six months. PayTM, which owned BCCI’s domestic rights, transferred it to Mastercard. Kiltmakers MPL sought an exit route and passed on their rights to KKCL. The hastiness of transfer was evident with Indian players sporting MPL training kits, with Killer on their T20 jerseys during the SL series.
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