BCCI may claim around Rs 400 crores as damages from West Indies Cricket Board after pull-out

FILE PHOTO: BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said that BCCI will decide on the legal course by 21^st October

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is more likely to demand approximately Rs. 400 crore (approximately 65 million USD) as damages from West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) after their unprecedented pull-out of the tour.

West Indies entered an agreement with the Indian board to play in 5 ODIs, a one-off T20I and 3 Tests. However, their players made public of their decision not to play any of the remaining matches during the 4th ODI owing to salary-related issues with their board.

The situation resulted in the BCCI losing out on 17 match days and the losses incurred will be claimed legally once the legal cell gives a go ahead, said BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel.

"We have referred the matter to our legal cell and asked them to let us know by 21st about how we can pursue the issue legally," BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told ESPNcricinfo. "They [WICB] entered into a bilateral agreement with us, and they abandoned the tour due to their internal issues, so we will have to seek compensation. But, depending on the legal advice, the working committee will decide the future course of action," he added.

However, the secretary refused to elaborate on the exact amount of money that is to be quoted as damages to the WICB. Sri Lanka agreeing to fill in for West Indies will only be able to provide 5 match days (5 ODIs) which means the Indian broadcasters and sponsers will still be deprived of the additional 12 days of cricket as per the original schedule.

The revenue for each match-day of India's home series against West Indies in the 2013/14 season was Rs. 33 crore. Considering the fact that it remains "around the same as last year," the losses are estimated to be at least rs. 396 crore.

Why BCCI suffered losses

The ESPNCricinfo report further informs that according to agreements signed between Full Members for bilateral series, the home side gets to keep all the revenue generated throughout the series while accepting the expenses of visiting teams on the tour till they return.

Here in the case of BCCI, the income is generated through various means, primarily broadcast sponsorship, series-title sponsorship, team-title sponsorship, apparel sponsorship, minor share of advertising from host broadcaster (Star India), ticket sales and in-stadia advertising.

Since, Star India (broadcaster) and Micromax (series sponser) pay BCCI on a per-match basis, the 5 matches that were cancelled (1 ODI, 1 T20I and 3 Tests) will be filled in with the 5-match ODI series Sri Lanka agreed to take part in. Also, apparel sponsorship deal is informed to be for a fixed amount, irrespective of number of matches in a home series.

However, since there is significant cut down on number of match days, seventeen to five, the BCCI will not be benefitting from the broadcaster's revenue through advertising. The decrease in the same will affect even the state associations as 70% of the BCCI revenues are distributed amongst its 27 members who are part of Ranji Trophy.

To rub salt on the bruises, Star India are likely to request for a reduction in broadcaster fees after this change in schedule. Another problem is if any of the venues that are about to host a game against West Indies miss out on one in the new schedule that is to be announced shortly, will be incurring heavy losses as they are entitled to keep the revenue generated through ticket sales and in-stadia advertisings.