The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s revenue shortfall from its home broadcast partner STAR Sports — following the cessation of the series against the West Indies — would have been in excess of Rs. 200 crore.
In normal circumstances BCCI would have earned revenue of a little over Rs. 360 crore if the full series had been played.
The ongoing agreement between BCCI and STAR Sports, as part of a six-year contract (2012-18), would have resulted in a receipt of around Rs. 40 crore for each of the five ODIs, one Twenty20 International and three Test matches.
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The cyclone at Visakhapatnam reduced the ODI series to four matches, and then the West Indies played only three ODIs — at Kochi, Delhi and Dharamshala —before a dispute between the West Indies team and the West Indies Cricket Board resulted in the abrupt stoppage of the series.
This series against the West Indies was the only home series in the 2014-15 fiscal and a full series would have enabled BCCI to provide some money to 25 of the 30 affiliated members.
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Now, with Sri Lanka Cricket agreeing to play five ODIs, BCCI will be able to offset the shortfall in revenue.
It’s to be seen whether BCCI would still get Rs. 40 crore for each of the five ODIs against Sri Lanka.
“The BCCI will suffer a heavy shortfall in revenue. The agreement between STAR Sports and its advertisers for the West Indies series may not be applicable for the series against Sri Lanka,” said a senior BCCI functionary.
From the next season, 2015-16 and till 2023, the ICC’s new Future Tours Programme (FTP), will feature two home international series from October to March.
This will ensure high revenue for BCCI from broadcasting rights and thereby a higher distribution of money for the 25 affiliated members, not including CCI-Mumbai, NCC-Kolkata, All India Universities, Services and Railways.