Big bucks at play
M. S. Unnikrishnan

When Sachin Tendulkar was signed up for a Rs 200-crore staggered sponsorship deal by the late Marc Mascarenhas of WorldTel, a never-before high was set in sports sponsorship in the country. No other player has been able to better that deal, though Sachin’s own stock has plummeted over the years, and the latest on the Sachin front is that he’s negotiating a fresh sponsorship deal in the vicinity of Rs 123 crore.

But when Mascarenhas signed him for this huge sum, there was a rider to the contract as the player had to be a regular member of the team, or else a certain percentage would be deducted from his promised sponsorship income. No wonder, even when Sachin was plagued by injuries from toe to elbow, he was rarely "dropped", unless he chose to rest on his own volition.

The operative word is to be "in action", and not off it, though the top players can still rake in the moolah, even if not selected, after the graded payment system was introduced by the BCCI.

The BCCI has introduced three categories of players. Those in the A category get paid Rs 60 lakh, while those in B and C category get Rs 40 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, respectively. Thus, top players like Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble would be assured of Rs 60 lakh even if out of the team, as long as they are contracted with the BCCI. But the real income for the big names comes from their sponsorship deals, outside the ambit of the BCCI contract.

Stars like Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid charge something to the tune of Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 6.5 crore for a single ad campaign. The rate depends on the star value of the player and how well he markets himself. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the new kid on the advertising block, being besieged by the advertisers. Though he is only 30-odd ODI matches old, Dhoni’s reported worth in the ad market is more than Rs 40 lakh. He has already signed up with a couple of companies, and many more are queuing up at his doorstep to rope him in, which include oil majors of the country. Though Dhoni is a resident of Jharkhand, his roots are in Uttaranchal, and the oil companies have big stakes in the state. And what better way to promote their products than through the "son of the oil err`85 soil".

A slot in the Indian cricket team now can open the sluicegates of wealth and fame for a cricketer, as the benefits are quite substantial. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who made his debut when the Indian team toured Sri Lanka, has earned around Rs 50 lakh in match fee alone.

Why Dhoni, even the babe of the team, medium-pacer S. Sreesanth, has made around Rs 15 lakh by being the member of the team in the seven ODIs against Sri Lanka and four against South Africa, though he played only in three matches. A college student like him from Kerala couldn’t have asked for a better deal. There is another silver lining to the emergence of players like Dhoni and Sreesanth on the national scene as cricket in their respective states has also got a shot in the arm.

In comparison to cricket, sportspersons from other disciplines earn a pittance, even if they are world-beaters. Lt-Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore got less than Rs 50 lakh in cash prize after he won silver medal in double trap shooting at the Athens Olympics. Tennis players like Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have been an exception, though it goes to the credit of Sania Mirza for bringing women’s tennis in the ambit of high-priced ad campaigns.

The cricketers are, undoubtedly, lucky as the BCCI earns huge revenues from team sponsorships and telecasting rights. The board can afford to be liberal in paying to the players, though the match fee is not very much. A player gets Rs 1.25 lakh for an ODI, out of which the match fee is just Rs 25,000. The rest comes from the logo money. The rest comes from the logo money. For a Test match, the fee per player is Rs 1.5 lakh, including Rs 45,000 as match fee. The players get only 60 per cent the money on hand, while the rest is credited to the cricketers’ benevolent fund, managed by the board, to be given to the player on his retirement.

The BCCI is so flush with money that when last heard, it had over Rs 150 crore in cash balance alone — the kind of money all other sports organisations in India put together can only dream of. In cricket, there is money to be had for everyone — player, coach, manager, umpire and, last but not least, the official. No wonder, a place in the BCCI set-up is the most sought after.

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