The Board of Control for Cricket in India "has sold the title rights for India's home series for the next four years" -- from October to Sept. '19 -- for Rs 203.28 crore ($31.7M) to ecommerce firm, Paytm, an increase of around 20% compared to last season, according to Amol Karhadkar of ESPN.
With India set to play 84 home matches in the four-year cycle, Paytm will shell out Rs 2.42 crore per match, more than the 2.02 crore that Micromax bid for in the '14-15 season. Paytm "will also be the title sponsor for all major domestic tournaments."
Micromax, which had acquired the rights for India's short '14-15 home season, "was the only other bidder besides the winner." However, Micromax's bid "was declared invalid since their documentation was found to be incorrect" (ESPN, 7/30). INT'L BUSINESS TIMES' Rajarshi Majumdar wrote Paytm's bid was Rs 40 lakh "more than what Micromax were paying BCCI in the last season." Paytm Founder & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma: "Cricket is the dream sport for us in India." The first series that Paytm will be a part of will be the 70-days long South Africa tour of India later this year (IBT, 7/30). In Mumbai, Urvi Malvania reported the rights "include sponsor branding of the relevant series with the title sponsor logo, official designation as the 'Title Sponsor' of the relevant international or domestic series, visibility at the stadium during both international and domestic matches and broadcast sponsorship rights" (Indian BUSINESS STANDARD, 7/30).
