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The beleaguered Sahara Group, which yanked its team Pune Warriors out of the Indian Premier League (IPL), may have to negotiate hard with sponsors left high and dry by its abrupt withdrawal.
IPL Chairman and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla said that it was unfortunate, but rules of the League allow en-cashing the bank guarantee if the franchisee fee is not paid.
Asked if the cricket board will look at conducting fresh auctions for a new team, he said the board will decide “in due course.” Another senior executive of BCCI who did not wish to be identified said that the board might look at fresh auction process for the franchise, and has enough time to evaluate before the next season begins.
Meanwhile, some of the sponsors of Pune Warriors expressed surprise at the decision to pull out the team from IPL.
Killer Jeans, a brand owned by Kewal Kiran Clothing, had a long-term deal with the Pune Warriors spanning five years. This was the third year of the deal. A spokesperson for Killer Jeans said, “The news that they are withdrawing has come as a surprise for us. We will have to sit across the table and discuss and evaluate.”
Other sponsors such as Linc Pens, Finolex, Sansui and American Swan had one year deals with Pune Warriors.
Deepak Jalan, MD of Linc Pens, said that since the company had only a one-season deal, the decision of the team to pull out does not impact the company.
Anurag Rajpal, the CEO of clothing and footwear brand American Swan, said the company had a one-year agreement as the official lifestyle clothing partner of Pune Warriors. “The announcement has just come in yesterday, it is premature to comment as we need to review our agreements,” he added.
A senior media planner, said that several brands, even if they strike only a single-season deal, continue to use their association with the team even after the IPL matches end, depending on their contractual agreements. Abhijit Sarkar, Director, Pune Warriors India, said the team had fulfilled all agreements with sponsors for this season.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Sahara Group said it “assures its sponsors and other supporters who have shown faith in us that their obligations have and will be fulfilled and there will be no compromise on their status or rights.”
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