BCCI Insures Each Incident At IPL For Massive Rs 100 crore

This is part of a tripartite agreement concluded between BCCI, franchisees and host associations.

Updated on: 7 April 2017 9:37 am

Here is some welcome news for all parties, including IPL fans planning to go the stadiums to watch matches this season, involved in organising the lucrative league. While enjoying the action, if, God forbid, an incident takes place, fans need not worry: the BCCI has insured each incident for a massive Rs 100 crore.

Insurance cover for the match, excluding public liability insurance in excess of Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 100 crore per incident, will be taken by BCCI, says a ‘stadium agreement’, a tripartite contract concluded between the franchise, the BCCI and the match hosting association.

“The franchisee shall effect and maintain at the franchisee’s cost all appropriate insurances for the staging of each match with the exception that BCCI and the State Association shall effect and maintain public liability insurance for each contracted season with a sum insured of Rs.100 crore per incident and with a deductible of Rs 5 lakh per incident. Franchisee shall be liable for the cost of any claims below the Rs 5 lakh deductible,” says the stadium agreement, accessed by Outlook.

Apart from this insurance cover, this stadium agreement has some very interesting conditions for the 10 BCCI-affiliated state associations that are hosting IPL matches.

The state associations, for example, will have to provide a clean stadium, including the ‘air space’ over it to avoid ambush marketing by rivals of official sponsors.

The agreement spells out the definition of a ‘stadium’. It means the whole of the premises of the concerned stadium, “including without limitation the grounds, all accreditation facilities, the areas surrounding the stadium, training and warm-up grounds and areas, the stands, passageways, walkways, staircases, lifts, bars, toilets, hospitality facilities, private members’ areas, suites, fences (wherever applicable), commentary boxes, gantries, walls, windows, seats, boundaries, floodlights, media facilities, electronic scoreboards and replay screens, roofs, shops, box offices, car parks and other areas within the stadium, airspace above any of the foregoing, static or moving objects inside and outside the stadium in each case in and around and/or which form part of the stadium or which are otherwise owned and/or controlled by the state association in connection with the stadium but excluding any residential areas in the club house...”

Sponsors have got cautious and smart after Pepsi famously ‘ambush marketed’ its product at the venues of the 1996 World Cup , held in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, taking official sponsor Coca-Cola by surprise. Pepsi floated huge balloons just outside the stadiums with its famous slogan "nothing official about it” emblazoned prominently on them.

The IPL agreement says, “Licensee regarding so-called ‘ambush marketing’ activity in or outside the stadium and shall use its best endeavours to make areas surrounding the stadium available for the exploitation of the commercial rights.”

Match tickets for IPL games have also been clearly earmarked. “Two VIP boxes each of 24 seats for BCCI use (both boxes to be allocated by BCCI in its sole discretion as a first priority) shall be taken out of the 5% BCCI allocation. The tickets for the IPL central sponsors and other BCCI guests shall also be taken out of the 5% BCCI allocation and be in VIP hospitality locations,” says the stadium agreement.

The state associations will receive a total of Rs 60 lakh, from the BCCI and the IPL franchise, for renting out their stadiums.

“In consideration of the state association making the stadium available to BCCI and the franchisee in accordance with the terms of this agreement and for the proper performance of all its obligations under this agreement (including without limitation providing the facilities listed in Schedule 1 and the entire services that are listed in Schedule 2) the franchisee will pay to the state association the amount of Rs 30,00,000 and similarly the BCCI will pay to the state association the amount of Rs 30,00,000 in each case, plus service tax as applicable in respect of each match which is staged in whole or in part at the stadium,” it says.