With BCCI rudderless, business of cricket comes to a halt

The recent SC order has crippled day-to-day administration and delayed advertising and sponsorships

The recent verdict of the Supreme Court dismissing top officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in keeping with Lodha Committee recommendations will delay the awarding of several contracts. Industry experts estimate cricket advertising, sponsorship and broadcast revenue to total to Rs 10,000 crore. This comes as the apex body remains rudderless in the absence of administrators to run the show.

While the selection of the Indian side that will play England in three one-day and Twenty20 matches from January 15 have been put in place, there is no roadmap yet, say highly placed sources, with regard to matches that come after that.

Cumulatively almost 85 per cent of office-bearers affiliated to BCCI and state cricket bodies have become ineligible thanks to the panel's recommendations spelling out age and tenure limits. Worse, there is no clarity on who will take over the interim administration of BCCI till elections are conducted at the body six months down the line.

Lawyers Anil Divan and Gopal Subramaniam, the latter being amicus curae, have been tasked with suggesting names for interim administration by January 19. For now, BCCI CEO Rahul Johri is managing day-to-day affairs at the body in consultation with the Lodha Committee.

The uncertainty though has put a question mark on tournaments such as the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL), held annually in April-May. This year will mark the tenth edition of the T20 tournament, a must-have for most advertisers.

Companies and franchise owners that Business Standard spoke to say that they are awaiting clarity from the body on the way forward for the tournament. It is unclear whether the annual workshop of franchise-owners, slated to be held next week, will happen at all.

Typically, the cricket body spells out its plans for the edition during the workshop and seeks feedback from franchise owners on it. This dialogue, say franchise owners, is critical to ensure that everybody is on the same page.

The apex body, say persons in the know, is racing against time as dates for the tournament, player auctions etc have yet to be finalised. A proper calendar also helps stakeholders such as Sony Pictures Network, which has the telecast rights of the IPL till 2017, to commence ad sales on time. Thanks to the current uncertainty, the broadcaster is yet to dive into the thick of things, it is reliably learnt.

Last year, broadcaster Sony had garnered Rs 1,200 crore in advertising revenue, a jump of 20 per cent over the previous year. This was on account of new brands such as Oppo, Maruti, Coca-Cola and Tata Sky, who had come on board as sponsors. Additionally, Sony had managed to rope in three presenting sponsors last year instead of the two that the broadcaster normally did in previous years.