How the Nimbus deal imploded

In the Yahoo cricket website, Rahul Bhatia goes behind the scenes to explore why the BCCI pulled the plug on its US$ 350 million broadcasting deal with Nimbus Communications.

According to a mortgage deed filed by Nimbus, it anticipated earnings of Rs 2761 crore from the rights. The source of this confidence is unclear: the deed states that Nimbus expected to earn Rs 1213 crore in advertising revenues from cricket between 2010-14. However, the ad revenue from all its sports for the previous four financial years was only Rs 360.1 crore. In plainspeak: Nimbus expected a 400% rise in ad revenues.

The BCCI firing Nimbus proves the boom is ending in cricket broadcast business, says Kunal Pradhan, writing in the Economic Times.

Neo Cricket, pretty much a one-product entity, was cutting costs at each step, trying to squeeze out every second's worth of advertising revenue. In spite of all its efforts, however, the money being generated was only a fraction of what was anticipated when it first signed the deal, brokered by the BCCI's former financial whizkid, Lalit Modi.