CHENNAI: The BCCI on Tuesday announced MPL Sports as its new kit sponsor. Jerseys made by them will be worn by the Indian men's, women's and under-19 teams. A statement introduced MPL Sports as "the athleisure wear and sports merchandise brand from Mobile Premier League, India’s largest esports platform".
After Dream 11 for IPL, this is the second e-gaming company entering into a prominent partnership deal with BCCI. For some reason, there is secrecy over the sponsorship amount. The BCCI statement mentions that the deal with MPL Sports is from November 2020 to December 2023, starting with the men's team's tour of Australia.
It does not mention the amount of money it will be receiving from MPL Sports. Neither is the BCCI Apex Council — which is supposed to be informed when such agreements are made — aware of it. The previous deal with Nike from 2016-20 was worth Rs 350 crore, including around Rs 88 lakh per match.
The BCCI not disclosing figures of the arrangement with MPL Sports has led to speculations. There is one version saying the new deal is worth Rs 120 crore for three years including around Rs 57 lakh per match, plus 10 per cent of revenue from the sale of merchandise.
There are also claims that the new deal is worth more than the previous one. Although BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah welcomed MPL Sports in the media release, more than one Apex Council member told this daily they are not aware of anything. Not only the sponsorship amount, they also do not know that a deal has been finalised. Apex Council is the body which has to approve such decisions and this is an addition to the list of instances where it has been kept in the dark.
Given the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, a section of BCCI will not be heartbroken if earnings from kit sponsorship come down to Rs 40 crore from Rs 70 crore a year, as being speculated in certain quarters. They were getting ready for this scenario after no company submitted tender documents in August. With no party showing interest, the BCCI was ready to settle for less than what it was getting.
"We saw this for the IPL title sponsorship deal, which came down from Rs 440 crore to Rs 220 crore a year. In the present situation, when the global economy has suffered, I won't say Rs 40 crore per year from kit sponsorship is a bad deal. It could have been better, but you have to assess the situation before judging if it's good or bad," said a well-placed source. As far as disclosing the amount and transparency goes, nobody is commenting on that.