Star India asks BCCI for discount in current deal

India’s home season media rights holder Star India has asked the BCCI for a Rs 130 crore discount in the existing deal while jersey sponsor Byju’s, which is on its way out, wants the board to encash bank guarantee worth an estimated Rs 140 crore to honour the current agreement.

The BCCI top brass deliberated on the two subjects for more than an hour in the emergent meeting of the Apex Council on Monday. It was a virtual meeting.

In November, Byju’s communicated to the BCCI that it wants to exit as the jersey sponsor of the Indian cricket team but the board asked the edtech company to continue until at least March 2023.

However, in June, Byju’s had extended its jersey sponsorship agreement with the BCCI until November 2023 for an estimated USD 35 million.

While approximately Rs 140 crore will be paid to the BCCI through bank guarantee, the remaining, around Rs 160 crore, will be paid via instalments. “Only Byju’s and Star India’s 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.

Byju’s, which was one of the sponsors of the FIFA World Cup, plans to lay off around 2,500 of its 50,000 workforce by March, in its aim to become profitable.

‘Star India asks for Rs 130 crore discount’

It was also revealed in the meeting that Star, which had paid Rs 6138.1 crore for India’s international and domestic cricket rights for the 2018-2023 period, has asked for an approximate Rs 130 crore discount in the existing deal.

Some of the matches in the deal period had to be rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The issue was discussed at length but the board is yet to take a final call on it,” the source added.

The development comes at a time when the BCCI is preparing to sell media rights for the next five-year cycle after the current deal expires in March.

Considering the IPL media rights fetched a staggering Rs 48,390 crore, the BCCI is expecting another windfall. PTI