BCCI announces Byju's as Indian cricket team's new sponsor for three-year period

New Delhi: The Indian cricketers will wear a new brand name on their official jerseys from September with Chinese mobile manufacturer Oppo transferring the sponsorship rights to online tutorial firm Byju’s, the BCCI announced on Thursday. “BYJU’S will be taking over all obligations of the current team sponsor OPPO mobiles India private limited,” the BCCI said in a statement. “The BCCI is pleased to welcome India’s leading education and learning app BYJU’S as the official Team India sponsor from 5th September, 2019 until 31st March, 2022,” it added. [caption id=“attachment_4170631” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The deal between the BCCI and Oppo, which was inked in 2017 for a five-year period, was reportedly worth Rs 1079 crore. Virat Kohli and his teammates will wear the jersey with the new brand name from the upcoming home season, beginning with a series against South Africa from 15 September. A source said that the transfer is a “tripartite agreement” between Oppo, Bengaluru-based Byju’s and the BCCI. In March 2017, Oppo won the Indian team jersey rights for a five-year period after outbidding Vivo mobiles’ Rs 768 crore bid. As per the deal, Oppo was paying BCCI Rs 4.61 crore per bilateral match and Rs 1.56 crore for an ICC event game. “Any transfer of sponsorship requires the interested parties to inform BCCI about negotiations. Accordingly Byju’s and Oppo have informed about their discussion. The BCCI doesn’t stand to lose any money as the new company will pay exactly what the old one is paying. “The BCCI has a clause which allows transfer of sponsorship. Since there is a secrecy clause, the financial dealings can’t be spoken about,” said a BCCI official. Another official said the transfer could, in fact, translate into more money for the board. “The BCCI stands to gain if there is a transfer of sponsorship. The two parties in question will have to pay an extra 10 percent (between them) and also give a notice of six months,” the official said. In its statement, the BCCI did not disclose the financial aspect of the deal.