Indian board to bid for ICC's global rights

The Indian board has decided to bid for the global rights to all ICC events from 2007 to 2015. With the 2011 World Cup to be held in the subcontinent, the BCCI felt that it could generate maximum revenue if it was in charge of the marketing process.

The rights to all ICC events for the next eight years is up for grabs as the existing deal with Global Cricket Corporation expires after the World Cup next April.

"We are very interested in the bid," Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-president and marketing committee chairman, told The Times of India. "We will be aggressively pursuing the matter and will put forward the best bid as any other marketing agency."

Having already decided to enter the broadcast production arena, the BCCI now appears keen to spread its wings to the sphere of marketing. It is estimated that the global rights for the period between 2007 and 2015 could be worth as much as one billion dollars.

Meanwhile, a BCCI committee is set to discuss objections over the ICC's Members' Participation Agreement (MPA) on October 3. The board had earlier announced that it would not sign the agreement "in its present form". The committee, headed by Modi, is expected to suggest alterations that will facilitate an agreement.

The MPA lays down guidelines and restrictions that the players must follow, including those that deal with ambush marketing. According to reports, the board has sent a copy of the MPA to Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain, and it will only take a decision once he has responded.

The ICC hierarchy is believed to be angry that the BCCI has raised this as a potential problem so late in the day, and Malcolm Speed has requested that the issue be resolved as a matter of urgency.