MUMBAI: While two German sports apparel and footwear majors are being touted as the main contenders in the race to replace Nike as the BCCI’s kit sponsor, it is PUMA that has bought the Invitation to Tender document.
“I can confirm you that Puma has bought the ITT (Invitation to Tender) document worth Rs 1 lakh (Rs 100,000). While buying bid documents doesn’t mean one is bidding, Puma has shown genuine interest in submitting a bid,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
While it has been widely reported that fellow German brand adidas too, has shown interest, it is yet to pick up a bid document. There has also been speculative reports that adidas could independently bid for merchandise products, which will be a separate tender.
“Don’t be surprised if the new rights holder pays something around 200 crores (Rs 2 billion) for a five-year deal, which will be significantly less than what Nike paid during previous term,” an industry veteran told PTI.
“Look BCCI offered Nike the first right of refusal and that too a scaled-down offer which they declined. This could mean two things. Either they are not interested or may submit a bid which is even more scaled-down than what BCCI offered,” he said.
As far as Puma is concerned, it has had an increased interest in the Indian market over the years especially through IPL but now it also has India captain Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador along with KL Rahul.
“Puma has been a part of IPL for some years now and with Virat in their roster, it would only enhance their presence in the Indian market,” he noted.
The BCCI in it’s new bid has kept a base price of Rs 6.1 million per match compared to the Rs 8.8 million that Nike was paying during the last cycle.
All-in-all, Nike coughed up Rs 3.7 billion to renew the kit sponsorship with the Indian team in 2016 that will complete on September 30.
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