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The marketing committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India will meet on Wednesday to decide whether it should invite fresh bids for broadcast rights for cricket matches hosted by it.
This follows the board cancelling its agreement with Nimbus Communications in December, for the broadcast rights as Nimbus had defaulted on some payments to the board. Nimbus has taken the board to court against its decision.
The marketing committee is headed by Union Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah.
Asked if negotiations were on with Nimbus for a possible settlement, Mr N. Srinivasan, President, BCCI, told Business Line , “No. BCCI has called for a meeting of the marketing committee to be held on the 7{+t}{+h} of this month, which will consider the issue of fresh tender.”
Board rights
Is there a scope for a re-negotiation with Nimbus? “As I said, we are coming out with a fresh tender,” he said. “I don't want to comment. The tender, of course, will have eligibility criteria,” Mr Srinivasan said, when asked if Nimbus could also bid for the broadcast rights. He said the issue with Nimbus was one of asserting the board's rights.
The invitation to tender document was yet to be approved. It would be placed before the marketing committee, which would decide on what needed to be done.
Nimbus had signed a four-year agreement with the board in October 2009, at the rate of Rs 31.5 crore an international match.
With India faring poorly in its tours to England and Australia, experts feel that the fresh bids will be much lower.
India has a busy domestic season with New Zealand, England and Australia set to tour the country between August 2012 and March 2013. The BCCI will host New Zealand in a three-match test series in August-September; England in November-December when the two teams will play four test matches, one Twenty20 game and seven one-day internationals. Australia is slated to tour India in February-March 2013.
The BCCI's gross income for Rs 2010-11 was Rs 2,026 crore, of which media rights brought in Rs 1,047 crore, including Rs 423 crore from IPL and Rs 236 crore through CLT.
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