One97 Communications, which owns Paytm, was awarded the title sponsorship rights for India's international home cricket matches for four years after a winning bid of Rs 2.42 crore per match.
The decision to award the rights to One97 Communications till 2019 was taken at the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s marketing committee meeting in Delhi on Thursday.
The amount per match is Rs 40 lakh more than what Micromax, the only bidder in the 2014-15 season, gave the Board last year.
From now, the domestic Ranji Trophy competition will be known as the 'Paytm Ranji Trophy'.
There were only two bidders for the scheduled 86 matches (Tests, ODIs and T20Is) in India during the upcoming seasons as the rights were awarded for four years, till 2019.
The bids were opened at the marketing committee meeting which lasted around five hours.
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said they were elated to have Paytm as their homes series title sponsors.
"They are one of the new generation companies and we are delighted to partner with them. Having them for next four years gives the stability and continuity to Indian cricket. With nearly 84 matches scheduled over the next four years with all major countries playing in India we are hopeful that Paytm will be able to build a strong and strategic association with cricket," read a statement Thakur.
"We are also happy that the realisation has increased by 20 percent. It augurs well for Indian cricket. I am thankful to Paytm for their interest and faith in Indian cricket and welcome them on board," it added.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO of Paytm, said, "Cricket is the dream sport for us in India. Cricket epitomises the Paytm values of passion, hard work and team effort. We are very happy to partner with the BCCI and cheer for Indian cricket with millions of fans. Over the next four years, we will continue to invest strongly in cricket and other sports. As a growing brand which has big plans for a billion strong Indians, there is no better platform than cricket in India."
"Micromax's bid was not even opened after they failed to submit proper documents required for being eligible bidders. So their bid document was not opened and Paytm won the bid unilaterally," a marketing committee member said.
The base price per match was Rs 1.68 crore as the bids were opened in the second half of the five-hour meeting.
"Micromax's bid was not even opened after they had failed to submit proper documents required for being eligible bidders. So their bid document was not opened and Paytm won the bid unilaterally," a marketing committee member said.
Asked specifically why Micromax's bid was cancelled, Marketing Committee chairman Chetan Desai said, "The bid document specifically mentioned that the bidding should be done by consortium of companies. Micromax said they have a consortium but when they filled the bid documents there was no mention of it. So their bid document was not opened."
Desai also said that BCCI's in house TV production bid has been awarded to Zoom Technologies for Rs 26 crore. It was Rs 10 crore less than Rs 36 crore offered by a Singapore-based company which won the bid last year.
Nike's kit sponsorship deal is ending in December and global sporting goods giants Adidas have also shown interest in it. Now it will be battle between Nike and Adidas later this year to acquire the deal.
India will host South Africa later this year. It will be the start of the international season in association with Paytm.
