The Indian cricket team is set to don a new brand name on their jerseys in September with current sponsors Oppo set to be replaced by learning application Byju’s, according to a report in The Times of India.
Oppo, the Chinese mobile-maker which had acquired rights in 2017 with a winning bid of Rs. 1,079 crore will now reallocate the jersey rights to Byju’s, a Bangalore-based educational technology and online tutoring firm following India’s tour of West Indies that ends in August.
The Times of India has learned that Oppo has decided to reallocate their jersey rights because they find the current value “extremely high” and “unsustainable”. The report further states that the development took place two weeks ago and that work is already in progress.
Under the current deal, Oppo pays Rs 4.61 crore per bilateral match and Rs 1.56 crore for an ICC game. Along with reassigning the rights to Byju’s, the mobile manufacturer will also make a minor payment to their successors, who are now valued at around Rs 38,000 crore.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India will continue to receive the same amount for the games and will technically incur no losses in a deal that runs upto March 31, 2022.
“The Oppo and Byju’s are negotiating among themselves on the possible handover of shirt sponsorship deal. The CoA has been intimated that they are discussing among themselves on the transfer of sponsorship” a senior BCCI official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
In March 2017, Oppo won the Indian team jersey rights for a five-year period after outbidding Vivo mobiles’ Rs 768 crore bid.
As per the deal, Oppo was paying BCCI Rs 4.61 crore per bilateral match and Rs 1.56 crore for an ICC event game.
“Any transfer of sponsorship requires the interested parties to inform BCCI about negotiations. Accordingly Byju’s and Oppo have informed about their discussion. The BCCI doesn’t stand to lose any money as the new company will pay exactly what the old one is paying.
“The BCCI has a clause which allows transfer of sponsorship. Since there is a secrecy clause, the financial dealings can’t be spoken about,” the official said.
Byju’s, India’s most valued ed-tech company, earlier saw its valuation rise from $2 billion to $5.5 billion in its ongoing Series F funding round, Livemint reported.
(Updated with PTI inputs)
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!