Sport Industry Group

IPL TV rights contract put back out to market- 1 Jul 2010 00:00:00

The lucrative contract for the sale of international TV rights to the Indian Premier League is be put back out to market after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) cancelled its existing partnership with World Sport Group amid allegations of ‘all-pervasive fraud’.

The BCCI has decided to end its deal with the WSG, scheduled to run until 2017, early amid charges that the agency had allegedly undertaken fraudulent business when agreeing a new deal with Indian broadcaster Multi Screen Media for the domestic rights to the IPL last year.

In the course of the deal with MSM it is alleged that WSG received an $80m facilitation fee.

The BCCI claims it has only recently been made aware of the facilitation fee payment, a claim disputed by WSG and suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi.

MSM has since agreed to pay the $80m direct to the BCCI and is taking legal steps to recover the $25m it has already paid to WSG.

WSG has since threatened to take the BCCI to court over the termination of the contract.

In a strongly-worded letter to BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, WSG CEO Seamus O’Brian said the board’s decision to terminate its rights was based on little more than ‘unsupported and unsubstantiated allegations’ and that they were victims of an ‘internal agenda’.

Liked this story? Interested in hearing more of the latest news from the South African sport industry? Subscribe to our free daily newsletter by simply sending your email address and those of any interested colleagues to harry@sportindustry.biz