Nine months after a bitter split with long-time sponsors Sahara, the BCCI today invited tenders for the sponsorship rights of the Indian team for all the Board, ICC and Asian Cricket Council events from January 2014 to March 2017.
Sahara India Parivar had in February withdrawn its sponsorship of the national cricket team and ownership of the Pune Warriors IPL franchise due to differences with the Board.
"The BCCI has published an ITT (Invitation To Tender) for Team Sponsorship Rights covering BCCI Events, ICC Events and ACC Events, for the period 1st January 2014 to 31st March 2017," Board secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement.
"Rights include the right to be called the 'Official Team Sponsor' and to display a commercial logo on the team clothing of the Sr. Men's Cricket Team, the U-19 Men's Cricket Team, the Men's A-Team and the Women's Team," it added.
The ITT will be available for purchase at the BCCI Headquarters at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai from November 11 to December 7 on payment of Rs two lakh.
"Bids will be accepted until 3:00 pm on 9th December 2013, at which time it is intended that the Bids will be opened, evaluated, and the Tender awarded in the presence of Bidders."
Sahara's current tenure of the jersey sponsorship ends on Dec 31, 2013.
While withdrawing, Sahara had referred to several points of dispute with the BCCI, dating back to its first sponsorship deal in 2001 but largely relating to the IPL.
The BCCI had in October awarded the title sponsorship for all international series and domestic tournaments in India for the year 2013-14 to Star Private and ESPN Software at the base price of Rs 2 crore per fixture, almost Rs 1.5 crore less when compared to their previous deal with Airtel.
