Brands ponder cricket sponsorship

• Indian cricket team sponsorship up for grabs
• A number of brands in the running
• Some pull out due to costs

Global - Traditional heavy spenders on global cricket properties Vodafone, car maker Hyundai Motors, Reliance Communications and soft drink major Coca-Cola have decided to stay out of the bidding for the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has set a steep base price to Rs 510 crore for a four-year deal for one of cricket's most coveted sponsorships.

The base price is almost double the Rs 313 crore that Sahara paid for the sponsorship in 2005 and 36% more than the Rs 425 crore that the conglomerate finally paid after the number of matches increased beyond contract stipulations.

The Sahara group is uncertain whether it will rebid, though Bharti Airtel, Hero Honda, global sports wear giants Puma and Reebok are planning to consider bidding for the sponsorship. The bid submission deadline is 24 November.

Sports management companies also say some new telecom companies have also sounded them out for details of the contract, though this could not be verified.

Vodafone is a heavy spender on Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty-20 and World Cup Twenty-20, while Bharti was the title sponsor for Champions League and Coke has been team sponsor in IPL for Knight Riders, among others. Hyundai was also a co-sponsor on the air for IPL Twenty-20 League.

Reebok Managing Director Subhinder Singh Prem said: "I will talk to my team and consider bidding for the sponsorship."

A Hero Honda spokesperson merely said: "This is an ongoing process at Hero Honda and we always keep looking for opportunities to further build on our long and fruitful association with sports. However, there is nothing specific new for us to announce."

Under the deal, sponsors get to inscribe the company logo on the team jersey and have access to the team to take some photographs. The deal is only slightly lower than sponsorships for leading European soccer teams which, however, have a far larger global reach than cricket.

Advertisers agree that the deal is too expensive. Says a senior executive of a soft drinks company: "We could put the same money in advertising in cricket matches and buying sponsorship in each of the IPL teams, which would not cost us more than Rs 30 crore. After all, you can get sponsorship of a team in IPL for Rs 3 crore to Rs 5 crore and get consistent TRPs. Why should anyone waste so much money here?"

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