German sports apparel and footwear major Puma can be expected to bag Team India’s kit sponsorship rights while rival Adidas can also be expected to enter the competition. However, it couldn’t be confirmed whether Nike will be going through the bidding process again refusing BCCI’s scaled-down bid offer from their ₹370 crores (plus 30 crore royalty), which they paid for the duration of 2016 to 2020.
Describing the same, a senior BCCI official explained, “I can confirm that Puma has bought the ITT (Invitation to Tender) document worth ₹1 lakh. While buying bid documents doesn’t mean one is bidding, Puma has shown genuine interest in submitting a bid.”
It is learned that Adidas has been showing keen interest but whether they will be bidding for the sponsorship rights or not is still not known.
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Even though there are certain chances that the German giant could independently bid for merchandise products, which will be a separate tender. While Puma has over 350 exclusive stores, Adidas has more than 450 outlets which make these two companies the most sought after.
Describing the same, an industry veteran explained, “Don’t be surprised if the new rights holder pays something around ₹200 crores for a five-year deal which will be significantly less than what Nike paid during the previous term. Look BCCI offered Nike the first right of refusal and that too a scaled-down offer which they declined. This could mean two things. Either they are not interested or may submit a bid which is even more scaled-down than what BCCI offered.”
As far as Puma is concerned, they have witnessed ceratin gains in the Indian market over the years especially through IPL but now it also has the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador along with KL Rahul.
Explaining teh same, the veteran explained, “Puma has been a part of IPL for some years now and with Virat in their roster, it would only enhance their presence in the Indian market.”
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The BCCI in its new bid has kept a base price of ₹61 lakh per match compared to the ₹88 lakh during the last cycle.
