ADAG, Etihad Air in talks with ICC for '07-15 sponsor deal

NEW DELHI & GURGAON: Anil Ambani-owned Reliance ADAG and the UAE-based Etihad Airways are in the final stage of negotiations with the International Cricket Council (ICC) for signing up as global sponsors for the period 2007-15.

Industry sources close to the development told ET that the sponsorship deal with Reliance ADAG is estimated at about $60-80-million for eight years while the one with Etihad Airways was estimated to be around $60-million but could be a part cash part barter deal.

A Reliance ADAG spokesperson confirmed to ET that it is in advance talks with the ICC for signing up as a global sponsor but refused to confirm the development saying, “Nothing has been finalised as of now.” An ICC official declined to comment on these deals.

To put things into perspective, Reliance ADAG recently pulled out as one of the main television sponsors (for India) on Sony Entertainment Television for the current ICC World Cup being played in West Indies.

Sources said Reliance ADAG pulled out of World Cup 2007 as a television sponsor because the group felt that money was better utilised in bagging global sponsorship rights for the entire 2007-15 period which will include two World Cups, three Champions Trophy tournaments and two Twenty/20 Championships.

To add to this, the global broadcast rights holder ESPN-Star Sports (ESS) has the first right of refusal wherein it can sell the ground rights to other competitive brands if ICC doesn’t close at least two of its global sponsors by March 12, 2007, six months before the start of the first tournament in the form of the first Twenty/20 World Cup in South Africa.

This would mean that if ICC doesn’t close its sponsors by the end of Monday, March 12, ESS can sign another telecom brand at least for the first tournament as stated in the contract.

When contacted by ET, ESS’s managing director, RC Venkatesh, said that he would leave the announcements on the global sponsorship to be made by ICC on the global sponsors. ESS had bagged audio-visual rights for ICC events from 2007-2015 for a whopping $1.1-billion.

In all, ICC will tie up with four global sponsors. As reported by ET earlier, ICC has hiked the sponsorship price to $60-70 million – more than double of the existing fee of $25-30 million per sponsor.

ICC’s existing deals with its global sponsors – Pepsi, Hutch, Hero Honda and LG Electronics – will expire after the World Cup later next month.

samidha.sharma@timesgroup.com